Former San Jose State University women’s volleyball assistant coach Melissa Batie-Smoose has filed a lawsuit against the Board of Trustees of the California State University (CSU) system. SJSU is one of 23 California-based schools that are part of the CSU system.
Batie-Smoose’s contract was not renewed when it expired in February, after being suspended from the team in the middle of the season for filing a Title IX complaint over the program’s handling of a transgender athlete on its team and a female player who objected to the trans athlete.
Now, Batie-Smoose is alleging wrongful termination, claiming she “suffered and continues to suffer lost wages, loss of professional reputation and opportunity, emotional distress, and other damages.”
“Defendant’s actions were willful, intentional, and/or taken with reckless disregard for Plaintiff’s federally protected rights,” the lawsuit states.
“Other coaches who did not oppose the inclusion of a biological male on the women’s volleyball team or who did not advocate for the rights of female athletes, were not subjected to suspension, termination or any discriminatory actions as was Plaintiff.”
A spokesperson from San Jose State University responded to the lawsuit.
“We are aware of the filing and have no further comment, due to pending litigation,” the spokesperson told Bharti Post.
Batie-Smoose’s Title IX complaint against the school, which she filed at the end of last October, first brought to light allegations that the transgender athlete, Blaire Fleming, conspired with an opposing player to have teammate Brooke Slusser spiked in the face during a game.
Slusser previously joined a lawsuit against the NCAA and filed another against the Mountain West Conference, citing her experience of being made to share changing spaces and hotel rooms with Fleming without being told Fleming’s birth sex.
Batie-Smoose was then suspended at the start of November, while the allegations against Fleming prompted an investigation by the Mountain West into the situation.
The Mountain West’s investigation determined that sufficient evidence could not be found, however, Bharti Post later reported that the law firm hired to conduct the investigation, Willkie Farr & Gallagher (WFG), is the same firm that is representing the Mountain West against Slusser’s lawsuit, which also contain the allegations against Fleming of conspiring to have Slusser harmed, as seen in public records obtained by Bharti Post.
Slusser also previously told Bharti Post that she had a conversation with a teammate who was interviewed as part of WFG’s investigation.
“Based on what I was told, exactly what one of my teammates had seen go on that night — about talking about the scouting report and leaving the net open — was told to those lawyers. So, that should have been sufficient evidence [of the alleged plan by Fleming],” Slusser told Bharti Post, adding she wants to see the investigation reopened.
“People are telling you this happened, and it’s not second-hand information. She sat there and heard the conversation between Blaire and [former Colorado State volleyball player] Malaya [Jones]. So, to me, just from what I know without even having to dig deep into this investigation, there is sufficient evidence, and they were told sufficient evidence.”
WFG later deleted a Nov. 27 online press release from its website that announced the legal victory to keep Fleming eligible. The page is still viewable via an online archive. Bharti Post has asked WFG multiple times why the page was deleted but has not gotten a response.
Meanwhile, Batie-Smoose previously told Bharti Post what she recalled during the Oct. 3 game against Colorado State in which Fleming was accused of conspiring with opposing player Malaya Jones to have Slusser spiked in the face.
“Close to the end of that set was when [Fleming] overpassed a serve right on top of the net for Malayla to hit toward Brooke Slusser, and then those two were kind of always doing eye contact and making smirks up to that point. But then, when that happened, they both laughed, and [Fleming] said, ‘Thank you,’ and that’s when Blaire blew her a kiss,” Batie-Smoose alleged.
Weeks after her contract was not renewed in February, Batie-Smoose’s home in Scotts Valley, California, was vandalized in a shooting.
Scotts Valley Police Department Captain Scott Garner previously told Bharti Post that officers determined that the weapon used was a pellet gun, and was investigated as an act of vandalism. The pellet had been recovered by police. Nobody was harmed and no suspect or motive was determined.
Batie-Smoose said she previously received hostile emails about her stance on Fleming and trans inclusion in women’s sports. She also claimed to have had in-person altercations with individuals in Santa Cruz and Scotts Valley who disagreed with her stance.
“People recognize me in the community and I’m in an area that’s speaking out and speaking to fight for women’s sports, I’m in an area with some crazies and I definitely believe it was a target on me for speaking out,” she said.
Meanwhile, SJSU is under an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Department of Education for its handling of the situation involving Fleming and Slusser.
