San Jose State volleyball captain, opposing players file Title IX lawsuit over transgender player

A lawsuit has been filed against the Mountain West Conference, the California State University system, San Jose State's women's volleyball coach and two administrators surrounding the ongoing controversy that one of the Spartans players was reported to be transgender.

The plaintiffs, including SJSU's volleyball co-captain Brooke Slusser and 10 athletes from other schools, claim their Title IX rights are being violated by allowing the transgender athlete to play for a women's sports team.

The 132-page suit seeks a court-ordered injunction to prevent the team's transgender player from participating in an upcoming conference tournament.

For privacy concerns, NBC Bay Area is not naming the player, who has not come out publicly as transgender.

"It’s amazing that one person on our team is causing all of these issues," Slusser told Fox News earlier this week.

Marshi Smith, a former NCAA champion swimmer and co-founder of the Independent Council on Women's Sports, said it's "important for these athletes to be given their fair chance." The council is financially backing the suit.

"It’s disappointing it's come to this point," she said. "[It's] failure at every level of leadership."

The Mountain West Conference, where SJSU plays in, said it is taking the suit's allegations seriously.

"The Mountain West Conference prioritizes the best interests of our student-athletes and takes great care to adhere to NCAA and MW policies," said the MWC in a statement to NBC Bay Area. "While we are unable to comment on the pending litigation of this particular situation, we take seriously all concerns of student-athlete welfare and fairness."

San Jose State University said it is in the process of reviewing the suit.

"We received the complaint and will review and respond appropriately. We have no further comment at this time," SJSU told NBC Bay Area.

The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) said the law is on the side of the player and the university.

"The law does not permit discrimination against anyone, athletes or anyone else, just because they’re transgender," NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter said. "Sporting organizations are the best situated to come up with reasonable rules and requirements. The NCAA has done that."

NCLR said hopefully a court case can leave out what it calls the politicizing of the issue.

"One benefit about having courts and judges deal with these issues is that they can do it in a way that is dispassionate but applies the law and applies the regulations and the policies that relate to these issues," NCLR Senior Attorney Amy Whelan said.

The suit also comes after it was reported that SJSU's women's volleyball associate head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose was "not with the team at this time" for undisclosed reasons.

Batie-Smoose, who has been coaching the Spartans since 2023, came to the university with more than 20 years of coaching experience, per SJSU's website. Prior to her tenure with the Spartans, she coached at Fairfield University and got her start in Division I coaching at Holy Cross and Cornell universities.

The university confirmed Batie-Smoose's absence earlier this month to NBC Bay Area but did not provide specifics.

On Thursday, Batie-Smoose took to social media platform X, formerly Twitter, claiming that she was "removed" from the team.

"I was removed from my SJSU volleyball team for standing up for my players’ rights, but I’ve gained a new team of courageous women fighting the mistreatment facing all players in the Mountain West Conference," Batie-Smoose said on X.

Batie-Smoose is also a plaintiff in the recently filed lawsuit.

Smith added that in addition to the suit seeking the transgender player be barred from participating, the plaintiffs are asking that the losses given to the teams that have forfeited games due to the player be removed.

Already, four teams in the Mountain West Conference — the University of Nevada, Reno, the University of Wyoming, Boise State University and Utah State University — have forfeited games against the Spartans. Separately, Southern Utah University, which is not in the MWC, forfeited its match.

The protest against the Spartans’ program was further fueled after a federal lawsuit was filed against the NCAA.

The lawsuit specifically calls out an NCAA policy that allows transgender athletes to compete on women's teams under certain conditions.

A member of the Spartans volleyball team joined the suit last month, claiming that having a transgender teammate is unsafe for her, her teammates and opposing teams.

The suits have also grabbed the attention of transgender media personality and former Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete Caitlyn Jenner.

"We can’t make it a wiggly line... [it] come down to chromosomes," Jenner said in an interview with Fox News. "[R]equest they take a DNA test."

Due to the controversy, SJSU has provided extra security for the team at home and away matches.

Prior to the Nevada Wolf Pack's forfeiture, Mountain West Conference Commissioner Gloria Nevarez spoke out against the Spartan's opponents' decisions.

Nevarez told the Associated Press that teams willing to avoid playing SJSU are "not what we celebrate in college athletics" and added that she is heartbroken over this season's events.

"It breaks my heart because they're human beings, young people, student-athletes on both sides of this issue that are getting a lot of national negative attention," Nevarez said in an interview with The Associated Press. "It just doesn't feel right to me."

Govenors from Nevada, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming have all publicly supported the canceled games, citing that there needs to be fairness in women's sports.

SJSU has not commented on the politicians' "fairness" statements.