I've been trying to follow the Fresno State/Stacy Johnson-Klein sexual discrimination lawsuit in which she alleged she was fired because she advocated for women's rights. (Thank you Title IX blog for helping). But I'm not ashamed to admit that it all got so twisted and deep, I finally decided to let it go and simply wait for the verdict.

Here it is: Johnson-Klein was awarded $19.1 million. (Apparently S J-K offered to settle for $950,000 but Fresno wouldn't go above $550,000. Ooops.)

Thursday's verdict was the second judgment against Fresno State in a sexual discrimination lawsuit this year. In July, a jury awarded former volleyball coach Lindy Vivas $5.85 million -- which a judge later reduced to $4.52 million -- in a lawsuit claiming she was fired because of her advocacy for gender equity and her perceived sexual orientation.

Fresno State will, of course, appeal and perhaps Ted will weigh in on the legal complexities of the Johnson-Klein case, but both cases echo something Nancy Hogshead-Makar said about Title IX suits:

"In the past," noted Nancy Hogshead-Makar, associate professor at Florida Coastal School of Law and recipient of Duke University's one and only swimming scholarship (1978), "when women complained about pay or how their female athletes were being treated, they were really close to being fired. Whereas now they have this call for agitation against retaliation, so actually they have more job protection if they complain than if they don't."