Woman Coach Files Lawsuit Against Edinboro University Claiming Pay Discrimination

Melissa Soboleski, the women’s volleyball coach at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, has filed a lawsuit against the university, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, and the university’s athletic director claiming that she was discriminated against in pay.

According to the lawsuit, Soboleski earned $64,344 in 2016 while male coaches in similarly categorized sports earned as much as $120,872. In a response, the attorney general’s office did not dispute the salary figures but said that they “are related to seniority and/or legitimate nondiscriminatory interests of the university.”

The lawsuit claims that the athletic director intervened to deny her a raise that had been approved by the university’s president and retaliated against the volleyball program after the lawsuit was first filed.

Soboleski became head women’s volleyball coach in 2005 and has compiled a solid record of achievement with 303 wins and 160 losses. Earlier, she coached at Mercyhurt University and Gannon University, both in Erie, Pennsylvania. She is a 1993 graduate of Gannon University, where she majored in education.