Zina Garrison, the former captain of the U.S. Fed Cup team, reportedly filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) due to discrimination of her being black.
The lawsuit was filed on Thursday in a federal court in Manhattan. According to the complaint, Garrison claimed that there was unfair treatment because she earned lesser salary than Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe. She also did not receive any multiyear deal that McEnroe’s enjoying right now.
Garrison also accused the association for giving Mary Joe Fernandez, her successor as Fed Cup captain, higher salary despite having lesser coaching experience than her.
It can be remembered that USTA announced more than a year ago that the 2008 season would be Garrison’s last as U.S. Fed Cup team captain. Fernandez has been chosen to take over in the 2009 season.
Garrison replaced Billie Jean King in 2004 as team captain and had a 5-5 record over the span of five seasons, the team only advanced to semifinals four times and quarterfinals once.
Meanwhile, USTA spokesman Chris Widmaier said that the reason why Garrison’s services were not renewed was due to her performance. He stressed that the association is taking the allegations seriously.
