Coach of East Bay girls softball team alleges retaliation over discrimination lawsuit

HAYWARD — Someone entered a locker of the girls softball team at Tennyson High School and tossed their equipment into a dumpster, an action their coach suspects was in retaliation over lawsuits that allege the girls are victims of discrimination.

But a representative of the Hayward Unified School District said the incident actually stems from a misunderstanding, and that it was the result of another coach simply clearing the locker.

On Monday, Steve Griggs said he was resigning as coach of the girls team out of frustration over what has happened.

“I don’t want to be part of it anymore,” he said.

Weights and medicine balls worth hundreds of dollars were discarded, according to the softball team.

“This was deliberate,” Griggs said in a statement. “The lock was removed … and time spent to throw it all away. It was the only locker cleaned out that we can tell from (the equipment that was thrown in) the dumpster.”

The team purchased the equipment through its own fundraising efforts and the items were not provided by Tennyson High School or through the Hayward Unified School District, according to the coach.

“We did not realize there was an issue until they reached out to the media, and that’s how we heard about it,” district spokeswoman Dionicia Ramos said.

Another coach emptied the locker, apparently without checking with Griggs, which Ramos put down as a misunderstanding.

According to Griggs, the team discovered the equipment missing July 26, when they showed up to exercise and found the locker opened, emptied and all the softball equipment gone.

The equipment was later found in a dumpster behind the school at 27035 Whitman St. and all of it was recovered.

The incident comes after Griggs and fellow coach Gabriel Hernandez filed a civil rights complaint — for the second time — with the U.S. Department of Education, alleging female students at Tennyson are treated unfairly.

Hernandez and Griggs say the district has not improved the girl’s softball diamond or Tennyson’s southern grass field and instead has re-seeded the northern field, which is mostly used by boys, reconfigured its sprinkler system and added dirt to its baseball diamond.

The district’s inaction, the coaches contend, is happening despite Hayward voters passing Measure L, a $229 million bond measure in November 2014, as well as Measure H, a $381.7 million bond measure, in November 2018 to fund repairs and upgrades throughout the school district.

Hernandez and Griggs accuse the district of violating federal Title VI and Title IX discrimination laws because girls mostly use the southern field and many are Latino.

Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in any program or activity that receives federal funds. Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex under any education program or activity that receives federal money.

The coaches allege the district has discriminated against the girls softball team and has not allowed them access to locker rooms and restrooms to change for practice and games.

The coaches and families are now considering filing an additional suit against the school district for allegedly retaliating against the families by discarding the sports equipment.

Hernandez coaches the varsity boys soccer team and Griggs coaches the varsity girls softball team. While girls mostly use the southern field, teams share fields depending on scheduling.

About 1,400 students attend Tennyson, which opened in 1957.