US Chess Federation Sued for Homeschool Discrimination Ahead of ‘Super-Nationals’
The United States Chess Federation was recently sued by a group of angry parents who alleged the organization was discriminating against their children. No, this had nothing to do with the white pieces always going first, but rather, the parents allege discrimination for their children being homeschooled. While homeschooling does not necessarily entitle a person to protection from discrimination, if there is a religious reason behind the decision to homeschool, that could bring it within religious discrimination.
The lawsuit came about after the US Chess Federation (USCF) refused to allow a team of home schooled kids to participate in their “Super-Nationals” tournament this coming weekend. Last year, USCF disqualified one member of the same team of homeschooled children from a non-super national chess competition over a minor rules violation raised by a competing team’s coach (that also happened to be a USCF board member). Due to the rules violation, the team dropped from 3rd to 9th place.
– See more at: http://blogs.findlaw.com
The linked article goes on to say:
“However, reviewing the roster for the Blitz K-9 section of this weekend’s “Super Nationals” tournament reveals that children with the same initials from the lawsuit and last names of the parents involved in the lawsuit are registered to participate. This coupled with the fact that a request for a voluntary dismissal was filed yesterday means that the case very likely settled, or minimally, the parents dropped it after getting what they wanted.”
That rather changes the gist, wouldn’t you say?