Student sues Molloy over lost scholarship
Caitlin Ortiz, a Huntington Station athlete, is suing Molloy College. (June 17, 2011) Credit: Howard Schnapp
A Molloy College student says she lost her $5,000 softball scholarship after she was singled out for punishment because she was the team's only Hispanic.
In a civil rights lawsuit filed in federal court in Central Islip this week, Caitlin Ortiz, 20, of Huntington Station, asked for unspecified damages from the school for the loss of the scholarship.
While she still has a $5,000 tennis scholarship from the school, the loss of the softball scholarship makes it difficult for her family to pay for her to continue at Molloy, Ortiz said Friday in an interview at her attorney's office in Garden City.
But more important than monetary damages, Ortiz said, "I just want to clear my name."
Molloy spokesman Kenneth Young said the school would not comment because "officially it's in the legal arena."
Ortiz said she was criticized by Susan Cassidy-Lyke, the softball coach and Molloy's athletic director, after she and one of her five roommates had a sharp exchange over emails. Ortiz also contends that the coach, who Ortiz says once employed her as an assistant, criticized her for posting lyrics by Chris Brown and Big Sean on her Facebook page.
Shortly afterward, the school took away her softball scholarship, Ortiz said.
In the suit filed by her lawyer, Steve Morelli, Ortiz said she was discriminated against and suffered retaliation because she is Hispanic.
