AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- The University of Texas recently asked the state Supreme Court to block a sex and race discrimination lawsuit filed by former women's track coach Bev Kearney, who was forced out in 2013 after the school learned about a romantic relationship with one of her athletes a decade earlier.

University lawyers argued in an Aug. 26 filing that Kearney hasn't shown she was treated differently than someone in a similar position, and that allowing the case to continue would rewrite the standards for when state agencies could be sued. Two lower courts have allowed Kearney's case to proceed.

Kearney sued in 2014, arguing that as a black woman, she was held to a tougher standard than a white male coach or other school officials who she alleges were in relationships with subordinates.

Shortly after she resigned under pressure of being fired, Texas revealed that former assistant football coach Major Applewhite was reprimanded, but not fired, for a relationship with a female student trainer on a 2009 bowl trip. Applewhite was later promoted and given pay raises. He stayed on the Texas staff until head coach Mack Brown was forced out after the 2013 season. Applewhite is now the offensive coordinator at the University of Houston.