USWNT told to wait until 2021 for jury trial

Any trial on the remaining claims in the lawsuit brought against U.S. Soccer by members of the United States women’s national team may not take place until next year.

A federal district court in California released a scheduling notice Wednesday that it is currently unable to conduct jury trials due to “the unavailability of jurors during this pandemic.”

Judge R. Gary Klausner therefore delayed the trial scheduled to begin Sept. 15 until Jan. 26, 2021.

A pretrial conference was also rescheduled for Jan. 11, 2021.

Earlier on Wednesday, Spanish second division sides Almeria and Real Zaragoza each announced that one member of each of their teams had tested positive for coronavirus during a regular test.

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The trial could still take place in September if the two sides in the lawsuit file a stipulation to waive the jury in favor of a bench trial. They have until Thursday, Aug. 6 to file that stipulation.

The trial will resolve the remaining claims in the lawsuit originally filed by players in March 2019.

Players sued in March 2019 under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and they sought more than $66 million in damages.

The two unresolved claims relate to the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and involve alleged discrimination based on travel and accommodation and staffing for the women’s team compared to the men’s national team.

Klausner earlier ruled against the players on their pay discrimination claims relating to the Equal Pay Act and Title VII. He also ruled against the players in their request to immediately appeal the resolved claims, meaning they must wait for resolution of the current trial before appealing the pay discrimination claims to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Any such appeal would likely not be resolved before the rescheduled Olympics next summer.