April Jensen, formerly an associate head coach for Notre Dame’s swimming & diving program, is suing the school for gender and pregnancy discrimination.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana. In the civil suit, Jensen alleges that the school discriminated against her and wrongfully fired her for reporting discriminatory treatment by head coach Mike Litzinger.
Former Notre Dame Associate Head Coach April Jensen. (Photo courtesy of Notre Dame Athletics)
Jensen was pregnant in 2019. In the suit, she says she told Litzinger in May of 2019 that she was pregnant. Jensen planned to take only a few weeks of maternity leave so that she could return for the team’s training trip in December of 2019. But according to the suit, Litzinger “disagreed with her plan and was openly patronizing and judgmental.”
The lawsuit alleges that during the fall of 2019, Litzinger ignored Jensen at various meets and criticized the performance of Jensen’s sprint group at the team’s mid-season rest meet, the Ohio State Invite. After that meet, the suit says, Litzinger took over planning and writing practices for the sprinters.
Jensen ultimately took about five weeks of maternity leave. (Notre Dame offers up to 12 weeks of maternity leave). She had a baby girl on December 8 and returned to coaching on January 13. But according to the lawsuit, Litzinger assigned her to coach the mid-distance stroke group when she returned, not the sprinters as she had previously coached. Jensen says she was assisting a volunteer coach who was leading the mid-distance group, and characterized the change as feeling like a demotion.
The lawsuit alleges that Litzinger created an “intolerable” work environment, ignoring her on deck and criticizing her maternity plans. When Jensen reported these behaviors to the athletic department, Litzinger claimed she “disappeared” during meets, referencing time Jensen spent pumping breast milk, and assistant athletic director Juli Schreiber suggested that Jensen was being paid full-time for working a “modified schedule.”
Jensen’s suit alleges that the school retaliated against her for reporting Litzinger’s behavior by firing her in May of 2020. The lawsuit says that Jensen was told her contract would not be renewed, with Litzinger saying the decision was based on the last three years, and not the six months surrounding her pregnancy.
The suit also claims Jensen was paid significantly less than a male coach at her same level on the same staff. Aaron Bell was also an associate head coach for Notre Dame, and was paid $77,250 for the 2017-2018 season. Jensen, also an associate head coach, was paid $56,925. The difference in pay was related to each coach’s experience level, but the suit alleges that the difference of more than $20,000 annually was not in line with the difference in the two coaches’ experience levels. At the time, Bell had been coaching 14 years, all in Division I. Jensen had coached 9 years, all in Division I.
We’ve reached out to Notre Dame for comment on the suit, but have not yet received a response. Update: the school responded with the following statement: “Because this is pending litigation, we have no comment.”
Jensen’s suit also echoes many of the allegations made in the civil lawsuit between Petra Martin and Rutgers University. Martin alleged she was wrongfully terminated and held to an unfair double-standard as a female coach. Rutgers ultimately settled the lawsuit by paying Martin $725,000 and publicly exonerating her of allegations that she had bullied athletes.
Most teams say they operate as a “family”, if this were true at ND, the maternity leave would have been worked through by all involved. I remember when my son swam at ND under Tim Welsh, the team motto was: “To pursue and achieve athletic excellence with self discipline and love for one another.”
The team lived it, and it showed in how teammates, parents and coaches all interacted together in a positive way. Coach Welsh was as much of a life coach as he was a swim coach.
While I admire many of the team’s individual accomplishments under the current coaching staff, I’m not sure if that “love for one another” exists on the current teams. If… Read more »
…Just in case we needed more examples of why swimming has a terrible record of supporting and promoting female college coaches…
She was working for free for that kind of money…
Like most news articles and their comments, we know the contents don’t accurately represent the big picture or whole story. I do not know Coach Litzinger, but I do know he is a family man and a proud “girl dad” who I’m sure has his own side to this story. So again, instead of speculating or making judgement off of a one sided story, maybe show both sides the respect they deserve.
This sounds like the kind of narrative Mike would push. First attack April, then attack “the media.” Never having to address the issues raised, just refuse to comment on anything except how “the media” is out to get him.
So let’s hear Mike’s side of the story then. I’m sure SwimSwam would be keen to know what his perspective is.
I’m sure the Coach’s top priority would not be discussing this with SwimSwam. Also, your name suits you….
Exactly. He just wants to whine about “unfair media treatment” and deflect attention from himself.
Not impressed.
Interesting that I haven’t read of him “whining” anywhere…………..
Ohhh we’re still pretending like you aren’t just a mouthpiece for what he’s been complaining about in private?
Oh, ok.
Actually, I’m out of state and have never even met the man or any of the coaches in the program. You, however, seem like you know it all about every person and every topic… or like your handle implies, just racking up comments for SwimSwam… must be exhausting. Irregardless, I’ll continue to choose to treat both individuals with respect.
Lol that makes this whole thread even weirder. You know he’s a family man? Because he has daughters?
So bizzare.
What’s bizarre is that it seems you have to hit a quota of comments per day passionately knowing it all about every single person and article posted on SwimSwam. Hmmmm…. hopefully you’re at least paid for it. Bye!
You go girl! Cheering you ON for all women who have gotten pregnant and were told something degrading and also paid less (pretty much all of us). You have an army behind you!
Really? The downvotes? Y’all have no idea! 1) I was told not to pump in a bathroom because it made people uncomfortable and had to pump in a storage closet instead – my male boss walked in by accident once. 2) I had a great interview and was told I would get an offer. They took one look at my kid, then no offer. 3) I was told that my job was not guaranteed after maternity leave. 4) I was paid $30k less than a male coworker with the exact same title. This is 4 different places, not swim related. 1) is Cornell university. This seems to me to be totally a big picture story MacND.
Ok, so this is no longer about Coach Jensen and Coach Litzinger. This is now about a movement. Believe me, I back the movement 100%. However, you’ve already placed 100% blame on this coach off of what? A one sided SwimSwam article??
Yes. No one ever ever believes her. But we should all automatically believe him. Even if one of those things are true (likely), she was wronged. Thanks for making my point.
Did I say I didn’t believe her, or did I say this is a one sided article from SwimSwam and I will show respect to both individuals and not pass judgment on something I am uninformed about. Where have you gotten your information on this case other than this particular article?
If even one of the things she’s accused him of is untrue, does that mean then, in fairness, that he would have been wronged? Thanks for making *my* point.
The head coach had taken over an underperforming sprint group (hers) and well into the season – so not a time for a change especially for sprinters. Upon her return he assigned her to assist a coach in need of assistance – a promotion an honor and an opportunity. But typical modern day assistant – instead of embracing the opportunity
presented to her by the head coach to expand her resume and prove her worth to the team – “cries” foul and pursues “I am the victim mode.” Time to grow up and earn your spurs.
Literally ranting about “kids these days” as coaches lmao
Yeah I always cringe a little at these kinds of comments. Like, who do you think it is that has raised and mentored “kids these days”? Your generation did, Dr. Pete.
Of course, it’s better than the alternative, which is where your generation just got to do whatever the eff they wanted and treat people however the eff they wanted without consequence, and sometimes with reward.
There needs to be a balancing. People need to treat their assistants better, and assistants need to not go bizerk every time a job doesn’t work out. Who’s going to go first? Seems like it should be the head coaches.
not my generation – I am much older than that. I worked under two 3 Hall of Fame and 2 Olympic coaches to earn my way. All of my assistants moved on to head coaching positions.
she is not a kid
So going from “assistant coach” to assisting a volunteer coach is somehow an honor and promotion? A paid staff member assisting the unpaid intern is somehow ok in your mind? What planet are you on? And cmon, the argument that “earning one’s Spurs” like some kind of John Wayne figure is both laughable and dangerous. Just another response telling women to sit down and take what you get, regardless of if it’s fair or equitable.
Can’t wait for the swimswam article to speculate who is the next head coach at ND after this…..front runner Kate Robinson! She would never leave though! Go Catz!
Does anyone know what ND maternity leave looks like? Says 12 weeks – that 12 weeks unpaid is required by law for all. Was it paid or unpaid? There are VERY few positions in college athletics that has paid maternity leave let alone longer than a few weeks. One university I’m familiar with maternity leave/sick days/vacation days are all the same. So if you only have 3 weeks of those saved, everything after is unpaid leave. Did she feel like she needed to come back so she can still have an income? Was the HC reacting to the plan out of empathy to take full leave (if paid) to bond with baby and heal, or looking as a way to… Read more »
4 weeks paid
Choice of going on disability or taking FMLA. I was back making recruiting calls 2 days after giving birth. No leave offered otherwise by school or state laws.