HILO » A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by a former University of Hawaii at Hilo athletic director alleging the school discriminated against her because of her age, race and gender.

U.S. Chief District Judge Susan Oki Mollway dismissed the suit in a 50-page order filed Jan. 28, saying the former athletic director, Kathleen McNally, "fails to raise genuine issues of fact that would preclude judgment as a matter of law."

McNally, who sought $10 million from the university in the lawsuit filed in August 2009, told the Hawaii Tribune-Herald on Thursday that she would appeal.

McNally served as the Hilo athletic director from 2001 to 2008, when her contract was not renewed.

She claimed in the suit she was "falsely and maliciously" blamed for a $500,000 budget shortfall in her last year. She also said she was essentially "fired" for repeated complaints about violations of Title IX, the federal law requiring equal access to educational programs and activities at institutions that receive federal funding.

Mollway was not convinced. Regarding McNally’s claim she was paid less than and "treated differently" from the male athletic director at UH-Manoa, Jim Donovan, the judge wrote that McNally "fails to show that she was similarly situated to a person who was treated more favorably than her."

The judge observed Manoa is a much larger campus than Hilo and has a larger budget. She recounted Manoa, with an enrollment of about 20,000, has seven men’s sports, 11 women’s sports and two coed sports competing on the NCAA Division I level. Hilo, with fewer than 4,000 students, has six men’s and seven women’s sports competing on the NCAA Division II level.