Bakersfield College has filed legal action against the California Community College Athletics Association after the denial of the third appeal against the sanctions of the athletic department and football team.

Earlier this year, BC received communication from the Southern California Football Association and the CCCAA that required the college to vacate all wins of the 2011 and 2012 seasons, including the state championship. BC was also placed on probation for the 2013 and 2014 seasons. BC was also put on a postseason ban for the 2013 season.

Since then, BC has filed three appeals against the sanctions, and all of them have been denied. That prompted the legal action by BC, and the CCCAA and the SCFA were served on Sept. 13.

The college has retained the services of Christine Maloney, an attorney based in San Francisco.

Sonya Christian, president of BC, explained that the decision to hire an outside attorney, rather than the district lawyer, was due to Maloney’s experience in the field.

“She represented a community college related to a similar lawsuit related to athletics and was successful,” Christian said. “So her expertise is going to be very, very beneficial for the college.”

Christian explained plans for funding the legal aid of Maloney. “The Kern Community College District Board of Trustees really felt that the college was not treated fairly in this process,” she said.

“Because they felt so deeply that the college was not treated fairly, they have released sufficient money from the KCCD reserves to take care of the costs and we are also exploring alternative sources of funding,” said Christian.