Conflict over the Mountain West Conference’s policy on transgender athletes escalated this week when a volleyball coach and current and former players filed a federal lawsuit alleging Title IX violations and violations of their free speech rights.
The lawsuit against the Mountain West, San Jose State University and a number of academic officials aims to prevent a transgender player at San Jose State from taking part in the Mountain West’s conference volleyball championship later this month, The Athletic reported, noting that the group of people who sued includes one of the player’s current teammates and one of the player’s coaches.
The lawsuit holds implications for more than this fall’s college volleyball season. It could also influence college sports as a whole, as part of a wave of legal action regarding the future of women’s sports.
Here’s a closer look at the lawsuit against the Mountain West and San Jose State.
What claims are in the new lawsuit?
In the new lawsuit, the current players, including San Jose State co-captain Brooke Slusser, former players and coach allege that San Jose State and the Mountain West are violating their free speech rights and Title IX through their support for San Jose State’s transgender player.
The free speech claims stem from their belief that they’ve been prevented from or punished for speaking out against the conference policy on transgender athletes.
The Title IX claims center on the plaintiffs’ belief that the transgender athlete policy is harming female athletes.
Wasn’t there already a lawsuit underway?
Slusser, the current San Jose State player involved in the new lawsuit, is also part of a separate lawsuit against the NCAA filed earlier this year. That case aims to force changes to the NCAA policy on transgender athletes.
The San Jose State coach involved in the new lawsuit, Melissa Batie-Smoose, has also taken previous legal action related to transgender athletes.
“On Oct. 29, Batie-Smoose filed a Title IX complaint with San Jose State, the Mountain West and NCAA alleging discrimination against women,” The Athletic reported, noting that she was suspended from her coaching duties a few days later.
What is the NCAA policy on transgender athletes?
The NCAA takes a sport-by-sport approach to eligibility guidelines for transgender athletes, as the Deseret News previously reported. Its guidelines mirror the guidelines put in place by each sport’s governing body.
That means that, for college volleyball, the NCAA’s eligibility rules for transgender players come from USA Volleyball. In both settings, “transgender women are deemed eligible if they suppress their testosterone under 10 nmol/L,” per ESPN.
Although San Jose State has not commented on the identity of the school’s transgender player due to privacy laws, the school has said that “all of its players are eligible to compete on its women’s volleyball team,” ESPN reported.
What has the Mountain West said about the lawsuit?
The Mountain West conference released a statement on the new lawsuit on Thursday.
“The Mountain West Conference prioritizes the best interests of our student-athletes and takes great care to adhere to NCAA and MW policies,” the statement said, per ESPN. “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.”
What has San Jose State said about the lawsuit?
On Thursday, San Jose State officials said they had not yet been served with the lawsuit.
“We have not been served with the lawsuit. We obtained a copy of the 132-page document late Wednesday afternoon,” SJSU said in a statement, per The Athletic. “We will not comment at this time.”
Has the conflict over San Jose State volleyball affected the season?
Conflict over San Jose State’s transgender player has already affected this fall’s college volleyball season by fueling several forfeits.
Utah State and Southern Utah University refused to play San Jose State, and so did Boise State, Wyoming and Nevada.
The Mountain West conference, which includes all of those schools except Southern Utah, counts the forfeited games “as wins for SJSU and losses for schools that declined to play,” per ESPN.
The top six teams based on regular season conference record qualify for the Mountain West conference championship. As of Friday, San Jose State is in second place, ESPN reported.
What will happen next?
The new lawsuit includes a request for emergency relief, meaning that the players who sued want San Jose State’s transgender player to be declared ineligible before the case is fully briefed and argued.
If that request is granted, San Jose State and the Mountain West conference will have the opportunity to appeal the decision.
Regardless of what happens ahead of the Mountain West Conference tournament, the case will likely continue to work its way through the federal court system over the next several months.
It could eventually be disrupted by new guidance on transgender athletes in women’s sports from the Trump administration. During his campaign, President-elect Trump expressed interest in banning transgender women from women’s sports.
Trump could accomplish that policy goal in a number of ways, including through an executive order clarifying how Title IX should be interpreted.