A lawsuit has been filed alleging that transgender San Jose State University (SJSU) volleyball player Blaire Fleming took opportunities and scholarships away from females and, worse, even plotted to cause physical harm to players who opposed his inclusion on the team.
SJSU player Brooke Slusser and several others have filed a lawsuit against the university and the Mountain West Conference after both organizations allowed Fleming to join the SJSU women’s volleyball team without informing the women that he was a biological male who identifies as a woman, Fox News reported.
In the lawsuit, Slusser and the other women allege that Fleming’s presence on the team threatens their safety, dignity, and rights. The lawsuit also alleges that other women have been financially and emotionally impacted by the school’s decision to give Fleming a volleyball scholarship, thereby taking that opportunity away from a woman.
The lawsuit also cites claims by SJSU player Chandler Manusky, who said Fleming had broken school rules by sneaking out of a hotel where the team was staying during a road game. Manusky also alleged that she heard that Fleming was plotting with opposing players to cause physical harm to Slusser during a match.
“Manusky also said that Fleming stated, ‘I’m going to leave center court open,’ which would allow Malaya Jones to have a wide-open shot to try to ‘blow up Slusser,’ i.e., to try to hit Brooke Slusser in the face with the ball,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit further states that Manusky had alerted team coach Todd Kress and suspended assistant coach Melissa Barie-Smoose about the incident. Still, Kress insisted that the accusations about Fleming were false.
“Kress told Batie-Smoose he did not believe Manusky and thought she had made up the entire story so she would not get in trouble for leaving the team hotel,” the filing reads.
The school later suspended Batie-Smoose indefinitely after she filed a Title IX complaint alleging that the school was violating the law by allowing Fleming to play.
Batie-Smoose disagreed with coach Kress as her Title IX complaint cites the alleged lot floated by Fleming to harm Slusser on the court.
This suit is just one of several suits targeting schools and sports officials for allowing men to play as women. The NCAA is also being sued by several groups over its policy of allowing transgender players to play as women.
Slusser told Fox News that if she had been the one accused of planning to hurt another player, she would have been thrown off the team instantly.
“If this was me, and I was the one threatening to do this to my teammate who’s caused so much commotion, there would have been action taken immediately,” Slusser told the cable news outlet. “I was definitely very angry, and I was glad at first to know that it was already made aware to the coaching staff and compliance and everyone, but I don’t know if that made me feel any differently. I was just angry because I didn’t think someone would go to these lengths.”
She also said that the school has threatened to take away her scholarship for daring to speak out against Fleming.
Another plaintiff is former San Jose State player Elle Patterson, who says she had to quit college because she lost her scholarship and her spot on the team when Fleming was brought on. She said losing her scholarship meant she could no longer afford to attend SJSU.
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