ALBANY — The state University at Albany and its athletic director, Mark Benson, are being sued in a federal class action for violations of Title IX first reported by the Times Union in September.

The lawsuit, filed Sept. 29 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York by four former UAlbany women's tennis players and former head women's tennis coach Gordon Graham, seeks the immediate restoration of the women's tennis program; compliance with Title IX — the 1972 federal law that prohibits discrimination at educational institutions that receive federal funding — regarding athletic opportunities for women within one year; the restoration of Graham as head coach; plus attorney fees and monetary damages for Graham and the four former tennis players. The suit also asks the court to appoint a special master to oversee UAlbany's compliance with Title IX and any orders the court might issue.

The four players — Isidora Pejovic, Chae Bean Kang, Alba Sala Huerta and Chassidy King — were members of the UAlbany women's tennis team when the school cut the program in March 2016.

Among the allegations in the complaint is that UAlbany violated a 1994 order by the state Supreme Court in Albany County that required any changes to the athletic program at UAlbany would be made in compliance with federal law, and that affected students would be given adequate opportunity to transfer. The 1994 order stemmed from a suit following UAlbany's elimination of its wrestling, men's tennis, and men's and women's swimming programs.

In addition, Graham, the head coach, is suing for age discrimination, alleging in the complaint that Benson "stated publicly, the 65-year old coach was 'old enough to retire.' "

The university, as well as Benson, declined to comment Tuesday.

In August, a 12-page report of the investigation conducted by the State Education Department's Office for Civil Rights found that the UAlbany athletic department had not provided equal participation opportunities to male and female athletes over the past three academic years.

The school was found by state investigators to be in violation of Title IX. UAlbany entered into a three-year resolution agreement with the OCR, but the suit filed by Graham and the four former women's tennis players seeks to force compliance by the university within the shorter span of one year.

The Office for Civil Rights applied a three-part test to determine whether UAlbany was providing equal opportunities for athletic participation for both genders.

UAlbany failed the first prong of the test becuase it did not offer athletic opportunities proportional to each gender's percentage of total enrollment over the past three academic years. The investigators could not "determine that the University has established compliance" when it came to UAlbany expanding its athletic offerings to females and whether the interests and abilities are fully accommodated by the Great Danes' current programs, which are the other two prongs of the test.

The suit, Pejovic et al v. State U. of N.Y. at Albany et al., is assigned to Judge Thomas J. McAvoy.