TYLER – A local historically black four-year college has been implicated in an ex-coach’s wrongful termination lawsuit.
Asserting Texas College fired him for expressing Title IX concerns “regarding the reduction in the amount of the women’s softball scholarships vis-à-vis the scholarships awarded in the football program,” Glen Holmes initiated legal action against the school in Tyler federal court on Sept. 20.
Texas College employed Holmes as its head women’s softball coach and assistant football coach from June 2017 to last month.
His suit explains that he was “only able to offer 13 scholarships” for the softball team with “a number of the scholarships awarded in the softball program were in the amount of $4,000 for the academic school year.”
The plaintiff – with the approval of Athletic Director Elissa Burwell – “recruited 16 new players, 11 returning players, and awarded each player a $4,000 scholarship for the academic year,” the original petition says.
According to Holmes, Vice President of Student Affairs, Dr. Cynthia Marshall-Biggins, then learned of the awarding of the scholarships and “unilaterally lowered the amount of the women’s softball scholarships to $3,000 or less.” Marshall-Biggins purportedly forced the plaintiff to inform the players and parents of this decision.
“Once the plaintiff informed his players and their parents of the change in the amount of the scholarships, many of the parents and players complained to the Texas College administration,” the suit says.
Holmes spoke to Marshall-Biggins and Burwell about the reduction in question last Aug. 23 only to be terminated and “escorted off campus under armed police escort.”
Consequently, the plaintiff seeks unspecified monetary damages.
He is represented by William S. Hommel, Jr. of the Hommel Law Firm in Tyler.
Tyler Division of the Eastern District of Texas Case No. 6:18-CV-0495