Harvard, Former Women’s Hockey Coach Move to Mediation in Gender Discrimination Suit

Lawyers for Harvard and former women’s hockey coach Katey Stone will move to mediation for a gender discrimination lawsuit filed against the University, according to court documents released on Monday.

All further court hearings will be terminated as part of the decision to pursue negotiations with the help of a third party. Instead, Harvard and Stone are opting for alternative dispute resolution methods pursued outside of court.

The agreement allows both parties to continue providing evidence as needed until Dec. 19, when Harvard and Stone will be called back to court for mediation.

Andrew T. Miltenberg, who represents Stone in the case, wrote in a statement that the court will reconvene to “provide an opportunity to address any remaining scheduling or discovery issues.”

A Harvard spokesperson declined to comment on the mediation.

The update is the latest in a two-year dispute between Harvard and Stone that began in February 2023, after the Boston Globe and the Athletic published allegations that Stone had fostered a toxic team culture. Stone resigned from her position in June 2023 following a University investigation into her coaching practices.

Stone’s lawsuit against the University, filed in June 2024, claimed that Harvard had discriminated against her on the basis of sex and that the investigation would have been handled differently if she were a male coach.

The original suit alleged that Harvard’s treatment of Stone was part of a “larger culture at the University wherein female coaches are undervalued, underpaid, heavily scrutinized, and held to a breathtakingly more stringent standard of behavior than their male counterparts.”

Harvard and Stone have been through months of legal back-and-forth. Harvard moved to dismiss the case last October, claiming the statute of limitations on Stone’s claims had expired and that Stone’s evidence did not amount to gender discrimination. Massachusetts District Judge Leo T. Sorokin later issued the case’s first official ruling in April, denying the majority of Harvard’s motion and allowing the battle to proceed.

Stone’s lawyers also plan on bringing experts to discuss financial and emotional damages during mediation talks, according to the Monday filing. In response, Harvard’s legal team will also bring on experts as needed to respond.

The court will reconvene on Jan. 7 of next year to discuss next steps.

—Staff writer Elyse C. Goncalves can be reached at elyse.goncalves@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @e1ysegoncalves.

—Staff writer Akshaya Ravi can be reached at akshaya.ravi@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @akshayaravi22.