Mountain West, Commissioner Sued Over Transgender Volleyball Controversy

The Mountain West and its commissioner, Gloria Nevarez, are among the defendants charged Wednesday by 12 women in response to an alleged transgender athlete’s participation on the San Jose State volleyball team.

The complaint, obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, was filed in the U.S. District Court for Colorado in pursuit of monetary damages and an emergency injunction ahead of the Mountain West volleyball tournament, scheduled for Nov. 27-30 at UNLV’s Cox. Pavilion.

The large group of plaintiffs includes San Jose State co-captain Brooke Slusser, former San Jose State assistant Melissa Batie-Smoose and at least one player from the four Mountain West schools that have combined for six wins this season against the San Jose State (Boise State, Wyoming, UNR and Utah State).

San Jose State (13-5, 11-5) is second in the standings with only six teams qualifying for the conference tournament. The plaintiffs are asking that San Jose State senior outside hitter Blaire Fleming be banned from traveling to the tournament.

Other suggestions include disqualifying San Jose State or taking away the losses of the teams that declined to compete against the Spartans.

The plaintiffs allege that their constitutional rights to free speech and equal protection are being violated because of the conference and NCAA’s transgender inclusion policies, as well as their Title IX privileges.

Bill Bock, a sports attorney who previously served as general counsel of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, is representing them.

The other defendants are the California State University Board of Governors; San Jose State senior associate athletic director for wellness for student-athlete Laura Alexander; San Jose State volleyball coach Todd Kress; and Michelle Smith McDonald, senior director of media relations at San Jose State.

“We are not pleased with the lawsuit,” San Jose State said in a statement to the Review-Journal on Wednesday evening. “We just received a copy of the 132-page document at 3:58 p.m. We will have no comment at this time.”

The Mountain West did not respond to a request for comment.

Policy update

One of the larger allegations in the lawsuit is that Mountain West updated its handbook without notice or approval on the same day Boise State became the first member school to cancel a game against San Jose State in September.

Currently, the handbook says that any school that refuses to compete against a conference team with an eligible transgender student-athlete will be assessed a ranking loss.

The handbook also includes what the filing describes as a “don’t ask don’t tell” policy, under which questions about a transgender player’s eligibility should be directed to the specific university rather than the league or NCAA. It adds that schools are not required to notify the conference or NCAA of transgender players due to “privacy concerns,” and says schools can simply say all their athletes are eligible when asked about a player’s gender identity .

The filing describes these provisions as “contrary to freedom of expression.”

Treatment by coach

Slusser, who has been outspoken about her desire to remove Fleming from the team since joining a separate lawsuit against the NCAAA in September, claims she has been repeatedly silenced by San Jose State staff who Fleming would have hidden from her.

She claims Kress is now withholding communication and coaching. Slusser also claims Kress spoke to a private attorney as part of an alleged effort to remove her from the team.

The lawsuit alleges that Slusser and her teammates suffered extreme and unusual bruising from Fleming’s spikes in practice, but Kress allegedly became “angry” when Slusser was approached about the issue.

Two other San Jose State players claim they were passed over for athletic scholarships they were promised by Kress, who reportedly went to Fleming.

Batie-Smoose claims her employment was wrongfully terminated after she filed a Title IX complaint alleging unfair treatment toward Fleming.

Volleyball players from Wyoming, Boise State, Utah State and UNR claim they have received pressure from the Mountain West and their respective schools not to talk about their issues with transgender athletes’ participation in sports.

Utah State player Kaylie Ray says her team was “pressured” to agree to a statement against protests during the Mountain West tournament. Ray also claims she has heard that the conference has been communicating with coaches and athletic departments, “informing them that they need to get their players on the same page.”

Alleged Collusion by the State of Colorado

The filing builds on an earlier allegation that Fleming conspired with a Colorado State player to set up a game on Oct. 3 and attempt to injure Slusser.

Kress denied this claim in an ESPN story referenced in the lawsuit.

In the filing, Slusser claims a threatening social media message about her was sent to a teammate the night before the game. Batie-Smoose suspected that Fleming might be involved, leading Kress to discover that she had left the hotel.

Fleming then played “by far the worst game of the season” and reportedly played out of position on purpose. Slusser claims that Fleming winked at an opponent to whom she gently tapped the ball before it would be poked to Slusser.

A San Jose State player eventually came forward to the coaches and said she heard Fleming talking about plans to “shoot” Slusser in the face, but Kress never reported the matter so it could be investigated.

The lawsuit also claims that Fleming was never punished for leaving the hotel and was allowed to stay in Colorado after the team left.

Contact Callie Lawson-Freeman at [email protected]. To follow @CallieJLaw on X.