At least the lawyers made out. (from Associated Press)
Heather Sue Mercer in 2000 won $2 million in a sex-discrimination case against the school, claiming she was cut from Duke's football team because she was a woman. Duke argued on appeal that sex discrimination law does not include punitive damages, and in 2002 the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, leaving Mercer with just $1 in compensatory damages.
The football coach did have some complimentary words for her when she played.
After former Blue Devil football coach Fred Goldsmith allowed Mercer, a 1998 graduate, to join the football team, she said he would not allow her to dress out for games or practice on a scrimmage team against Duke's first-team players. She also said he once suggested she should be more interested in beauty pageants than football.
If you can't even take a compliment like that...
