FREDERICTON -- Lawyers for the University of New Brunswick are trying to stop a discrimination complaint from proceeding today over the school's decision to downgrade its varsity women's hockey team to a non-funded club team.
Lawyer Clarence Bennett is asking a board of inquiry to declare Sylvia Bryson's challenge moot because the former player hasn't qualified to play for the university since 2009 and doesn't have a personal stake in the matter.
Bryson has been fighting to have the varsity team reinstated since filing her complaint in 2009, a year after the university made the decision.
She also wants changes to the gender equality policy of the school's athletics department.
Bryson wants the policy to reflect the funding and importance of a sport, rather than just the numbers of male and female athletes who are playing.
The 27-year-old says she has one year of eligibility left and would return as a full-time student to play hockey.
The inquiry is being held by the province's Labour and Employment Board.
