BUTTE – A former women’s basketball coach at Montana State University took the stand in her federal sexual discrimination lawsuit against the school and denied mistreating players.
Robin Potera-Haskins on Friday reaffirmed her contention that her firing was the result of sexual discrimination because she complained that the men’s and women’s teams were treated unequally.
Potera-Haskins was fired at MSU in April 2004 for alleged mistreatment of players. She then filed a wrongful discharge lawsuit against the school.
She testified before U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon that she was never informed of an athletic committee’s inquiries into the program after players said she violated NCAA practice time rules and was too harsh with players.
“I was totally unaware that the committee was meeting with players,” she testified. “I would have done anything possible if I had just known what was going on. You can’t fix it when you don’t even know what the problem is.”
School officials on the committee earlier in the bench trial testified the decision to fire Potera-Haskins was not influenced by her complaints of gender discrimination.
Potera-Haskins also testified Friday that the women’s team was micromanaged by school administrators. She also said the team routinely had to leave the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse to make way for the men’s football team.
“My team was sentenced to Romney Gym” which is substandard and “not game-like,” she said. “That didn’t happen to Coach Durham,” she said, referring to the men’s basketball coach at the time.
Mick Durham, now an assistant coach at New Mexico State, testified by video that the school was “very hands off” with the MSU’s men’s basketball team.
Former assistant women’s coach Matt Wallis also testified Friday, backing up Potera-Haskins’ claims that several players were regularly insubordinate, belligerent and disrespectful to her and assistant coaches during practice.
Wallis also testified that Potera-Haskins didn’t humiliate players, as some players previously testified, or used profanity or called them names.
“Never,” Wallis said. “Her behavior was standard.”
Haddon is not expected to make a ruling for at least two months.
Potera-Haskins was recently named the head women’s basketball coach at Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore.