Former University of Toledo softball coach Terrah Beyster filed suit against the school today in Toledo’s federal court, alleging violations of Title IX, the federal educational anti-discrimination act. Beyster “resigned” nearly a year ago, but the suit alleges she was forced out and charged with insubordination after complaining to athletic department administrators about the disparities in funding and treatment of the Toledo softball and baseball programs. Beyster also highlights two former coaches and an administrator who were not fired for having relationships with students or subordinates.
Beyster was hired in 2009. The suit says she was “originally hesitant because of the program’s poor reputation, low salaries, and meager budget,” but a top athletic department administrator told her “she would have free reign over the program, and the budget and salaries would increase.” It continues: “Almost immediately upon her start at the University, Coach Beyster recognized the glaring inequalities between the men’s and women’s athletic programs, generally, and the softball and baseball programs, specifically.”
It says she was an active advocate for gender equality in the athletic department, “but the University rebuffed her efforts.” She raised the following issues:
-A) She didn’t have a multi-year contract, though male coaches did.
-B) She was one of the lowest paid coaches at the school and the lowest paid softball coach in the Mid-American conference.
-C) The baseball program had a long-term graduate assistant. Softball graduate assistants couldn’t stay more than two years.
-D) The baseball program kept the money from when they rented out their fields. The softball program had to turn all rental revenues over to the Facilities Department, despite preparing the field themselves.
-E) Despite asking for a new bullpen backstop because it was a “safety hazard,” they didn’t get one. The school then built one for the baseball program shortly after.
-F) The team’s outfield fencing and materials violated NCAA rules. The school didn’t pair for renovations — instead, the program raised the money and paid for nearly all of the $103,000 costs.
-G) The field’s dirt needed replacement dirt every two years. They supplied it for the baseball team, but not the softball team.
-H) The baseball program had its own locker room, while softball had to share it with the girl’s soccer team, where male coaches would walk in.
-I) Male referees and umpires were assigned to use the women coaches’ locker room, where the male officials “walked in on every female coach, and at least three female coaches were nude when a referee or umpire walked in.”
After raising these concerns, the suit said she was retaliated against. A former associate athletic department called her “Coach Bitch,” they refused to hire her preferred assistant coach and “threatened consequences if parents or players called or wrote letters” supporting the two, took money the softball team raised and used it on other sport, and athletic director Mike O’Brien refused to meet with with her.
On November 4, 2013, the school held a surprise disciplinary hearing and charged her with insubordination. “The University demanded she resign or be terminated, promising to make the resignation as pretty as possible.” It was announced she “resigned” the next day.
The suit highlights three cases of male head coaches and administrators who “committed much more egregious offenses” without being fired:
-Former swimming coach Lars Jorgensen “had a long term romantic relationship with a payer. The University hired this player as an assistant coach and eventually promoted her to head coach, passing over top candidates for this position.” This relationship has not been made public before. In 2013, Jorgensen took over as the head University of Kentucky swimming and diving coach. Liz Hinkleman took over for him at Toledo, her alma mater.
-She also brought up former Toledo track and cross country coach Kevin Hadsell, who had romantic relationships with runners and drove the team bus drunk, among other issues. For more information on that, read a Deadpsin’s 2013 piece — “I’m Down For Drinks, Laughs, Sex”: The Sexual Harassment Claims That Brought Down Toledo’s Running Coach” — written by the author of this blog post.
-Also in there is former deputy athletic director Mike Karabin, who she says was arrested for drunk driving and was accused of having an affair and sexually harassing a subordinate.
Beyster is bringing suit for one count of “Unlawful Retaliation and Discrimination in Violation of Title IX of the Educational Amendment Act of 1972.”
She’s asking for “back pay and front pay,” “compensatory damages,” “punitive damages,” her old job back, and costs associated with the lawsuit.
Read the suit here:
Terrah Beyster (PDF)
Terrah Beyster (Text)
This article appears in Oct 22-28, 2014.
What a joke. She was mentally abusive to players an during a game she locked herself in the untility closed and beat the walls with a bat. She’s psycho and is lucky some players didn’t file a lawsuit agains her because many of them are in therapy because of her mental abuse.
If her claims about the $$ prove to be true she has a big payday coming. Although, if she did indeed resign she has no leg to stand on. Always make them fire you, then you come back at them with all the evidence. If you resign, you are admitting fault/responsibility for the situation.
@Anonymous 5150…. I’m not sure why you are personally attacking “Coach Beyster”, she is fighting for women’s sports and not allowing Universities to look the other way when it comes to non revenue sports. She may have not been the coach you or your daughter expected, but she was a damn good coach! She was a coach who cared about the well being of her student athletes, she cared about the reputation her student athletes were portraying in public and around campus. She was tough and demanding but that program needed discipline and a lot of it, and that is exactly what she brought to the table. She turned that program around on and off the field! Yes her record was 55-156 however the things she accomplished in four short years where things that the previous 4 coaches before her could NOT accomplish. 1st time to the MAC Tournament since 1997; 1st time back to back appearances in the MAC Tournament since 1986,1996; 1st MAC Tournament win since 1997 just to name a few!
@Patricia : Clearly you are biased. They were 8th out of 12 teams. Making the tournament is hardly “turning things around”. I think she may have some issues now due to the lawsuit as she has included things in the lawsuit that are either rumor or known to be false accusations. She is not winning the court of public opinion in Toledo so it will be very difficult to think she will win the case. Could be the nail in coffin to a lackluster coaching career.
Is she serious? The only hostile environment was the one she created. What about firing your assistant of many years just so you can hire your student girlfriend? How many kids quit her program? 75% losing percentage and kids leaving the program should be enough. Guess she could not find a job so she wants UT to foot the bill.
So saying she “turned it around” is bogus. Her actions and lack of professionalism hurt the kids. They only learned what not to do in life from her.
This woman doesn’t deserve a penny from Toledo. Her title IV claims are irrelevant to the fact that she is solely to blame for the loss of her coaching position. The only reason she is filing this suit is for personal gain. She had to resign because she was a bad coach and acted completely unprofessionally. Period.
unless you played for her you have no idea the mental abuse the players went through. Being a relative does not give you insight to her lack of coaching ability. From what I saw when the interim coaches (gross and leddy ,sp?) Took over last yr, they had a better record with them then the yrs prior with her. Still wondering why they didn’t keep those 2. They seemed real good for the program. Go Rockets
Coach Beyster was very calculated in her actions. She was a psychology graduate. She forced her longtime friend and assistant out, to bring in her student girlfriend. That alone would warrant a lawsuit from the former assistant. The U could not afford to take that risk, so did not allow the new girlfriend on staff. Pretty simple, Beyster leaves girlfriend home no issue.
she brought this on. And don’t forget the mental abuse of the players… she played them against each other. If she found a better recruit she would go after a current player till they quit. she was a hot mess…
for the sake of other players she really should never coach again…. once search from an AD should show the lawsuit. No respectable AD would hire her….
Completely accurate allegations when it comes to Coach Lars Jorgensen. Amazing that a coach who had an intimate relationship with a member of his swim team would be hired by Kentucky as head coach. Would not be surprised to see him victimize another girl on his team in the future.
Read up on all of the 4 rape case lawsuits that were mishandled that went to court at the University of Toledo, the year after this (2014)… The UT Rapist even admits to raping a student on campus, and he is not expelled, even after UT knows about it, and has his confession recorded. (They actually gave him a 25.00 fine and some stupid class on Assault, but the victims were allowed to sit in class with him all year…)I do not believe that UT cares about its students at all. All they care about is money money money.