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EXCLUSIVE: The lawsuit led by former San Jose State University women’s volleyball co-captain Brooke Slusser after her experience with a transgender teammate appears to be directly influenced by the rulings in an ongoing Supreme Court case about trans athletes.
Slusser filed the suit against representatives of her school and the Mountain West Conference in the fall of 2024 after she was allegedly forced to share bedrooms and locker rooms with trans teammate Blaire Fleming for an entire season without being informed that Fleming is biologically male.
A federal judge issued a ruling in the Slusser v. Mountain West motion to dismiss on Tuesday. Colorado District Judge Kato Crews dismissed all of the plaintiffs’ charges against the Mountain West Conference, but did not dismiss charges of Title IX violations against representatives of SJSU and the California State University (CSU) system.
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(Left) Brooke Slusser (10) of the San Jose State Spartans serves the ball during the first set against the Air Force Falcons on Falcon Court at the East Gym in Colorado Springs, Colorado on October 19, 2024. (Right) Blaire Fleming #3 of the San Jose State Spartans looks on during the third set against the Air Force Falcons on October 19, 2024 at the Air Force 10 Gym. in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Andrew Wevers/Getty Images; Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)
Crews deferred its decision on whether to dismiss those charges until after the ruling in the ongoing BPJ v. West Virginia Supreme Court case, which is expected in June.
“The motion to strike class allegations is denied,” Crews wrote in his decision. “What remains of the Amended Complaint is Plaintiffs’ Title IX claim for damages against the CSU Board of Directors… So the Court will stay ruling on the Title IX damages claims until after the Supreme Court issues its decision in BPJ“
CSU released a statement to Pakinomist Digital in response to Crews’ decision.
“CSU is pleased with the court’s decision. SJSU has complied with Title IX and all applicable law and will continue to do so,” the statement read.
Slusser’s attorney, Bill Bock of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, expects a Supreme Court ruling in favor of the legal defense representing West Virginia, thus helping his case.
“We look forward to the case moving forward,” Bock told Pakinomist Digital.
“I think the court is going to find that Title IX operates on the basis of biological sex, without regard to an assailant or declared sex, and so just as Congress and the members of Congress who passed Title IX in 1972, this specifically allowed in the rules that there should be separate male and female teams based on the court’s biological sex meaning, and I think that’s the meaning of the biological sex that applies in the court’s statutes. on the way and I think it will be a big win for women’s sport.”
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared poised to rule in favor of West Virginia after oral arguments on January 13.
Slusser spoke on the Supreme Court steps Jan. 13 as oral arguments took place inside, sharing her experience with a divided crowd of opposing protesters.
Bock also said it is “likely” his team will appeal the dismissal of the charges against Mountain West.
“There is a real mistake in the dismissal of the Mountain West Conference,” Bock said. “I think an appeal is very likely.”
Mountain West responded in a statement to Pakinomist Digital.
“We appreciate the court’s thorough review of the allegations. We are pleased that the court granted Mountain West’s and Commissioner Nevarez’s motion to dismiss in their entirety. We remain focused on supporting our member institutions and student-athletes,” the statement read.
The judge, Crews, was appointed by former President Joe Biden in January 2024.
EX-SJSU VOLLEYBALL COACH REACTS AFTER TRUMP ADMIN RULES SCHOOL VIOLATED TITLE IX WITH TRANS ATHLETE HANDLING
Crews previously decided to allow SJSU trans athlete Blaire Fleming to continue playing college volleyball in the Mountain West tournament after Slusser and her co-plaintiffs filed a request for a preliminary injunction in November 2024 to have Fleming ruled ineligible.
“I simply have a disagreement with him about what the law is, and particularly about Title IX,” Bock said of Crews.
With Fleming on its roster, SJSU reached the conference finals in 2024 by virtue of a loss to Boise State in the semifinal round. SJSU lost in the finals to Colorado State.
Slusser went on to develop an eating disorder due to the anxiety and trauma of the scandal, and dropped out of her classes the following semester. The eating disorder became so severe that Slusser said she lost her menstrual cycle for nine months. Her decision to drop her classes resulted in the loss of her scholarship, and her parents said they had to foot the bill for an unfinished last semester of college.
President Donald Trump’s Department of Education ruled in January that SJSU violated Title IX in its handling of the situation involving Fleming and has given the university an ultimatum to accept a series of resolutions or face a referral to the Justice Department.
Among the department’s findings, it determined that a female athlete discovered the trans student allegedly conspired to have a member of an opposing team spike her in the face during a game. ED alleges that “SJSU did not investigate the conspiracy, but later subjected the female athlete to a Title IX complaint for ‘misgendering’ the male athlete in online videos and interviews.
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SJSU Athletic Director Jeff Konya told Pakinomist Digital in a July interview that he was pleased with how the university handled the situation involving Fleming.
“I think everyone acted in the best possible way they could, given the circumstances,” Konya said.
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