Balsley v. North Hunterdon Regional School District Board of Education

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

HANDLER, J.

This appeal poses the issue whether counsel fees can be awarded in a proceeding brought before the Commissioner of Education based on unlawful gender-discrimination. In this case, a public high school student was barred from trying out for the school’s football team because of her sex. She filed a complaint under the state’s education laws with the Commissioner of Education charging the school board with unlawful discrimination. Following a consent order that allowed the student to participate on the football team, the student made an…