Teammate Of SJSU Transgender Volleyball Player Blaire Fleming Joins Lawsuit Against NCAA
A current teammate of Blaire Fleming, a trans-identifying male on the undefeated San Jose State women's volleyball team, has joined more than a dozen other female athletes in suing the NCAA for Title IX violations.
The class-action lawsuit, originally filed in March, states that the NCAA has knowingly violated Title IX, the federal statute that guarantees equal opportunity for men and women in college education and in sports. Brooke Slusser, the starting setter and co-captain of SJSU's team, says she was forced both to compete and to share a residence with Fleming without any prior notice that the athlete was male.
Fleming, a redshirt senior, previously played at Coastal Carolina University and has played on the SJSU women's team for the past three seasons. As OutKick reported in April, the school initially hid the fact that the 6-foot-1 outside hitter was born a male, and, allegedly, withheld that fact from Slusser as well.
The San Jose State women's volleyball team, which has transgender player Blaire Fleming (#3), is undefeated on the season.
(San Jose State University Athletics)
Upon transferring to SJSU from Alabama in the Fall of 2023, Slusser began sharing a residence with four of her teammates, including Fleming. At no point during her recruitment, nor during the 2023 season, was she informed that a male athlete was on the team.
Further, Slusser was frequently assigned by the SJSU athletic department to room with Fleming on road trips. She later found out that Fleming specifically requested her.
According to the complaint, Slusser had noticed that "Fleming played volleyball with jumping ability and power that surpassed that of any girl on the team." But it wasn't until she overheard a conversation among students who called Fleming a "guy" that she realized why that was.
Teammate Of Blaire Fleming Expresses Safety Concerns
The SJSU Spartans have experienced a historic year, starting the season with a program-best 8-0 record and dropping only four sets out of the 28 that they’ve played all year. Fleming has the second-most total kills on the team (103) and kills per set rate (3.68).
Slusser said that while she did not want Fleming to be bullied, she was uncomfortable with the trans athlete's presence on the team. She questioned whether it was safe or fair for the other women on the team and for opposing teams. Slusser saw that Fleming was hitting the ball with more force and far harder than any woman she had ever played against.
"One thing that's important in this case is really the physical safety issues in volleyball," Slusser's attorney Bill Bock, told OutKick. "And that's what they're facing in practice every day. So it's just a crazy, misguided policy that steals athletic dreams from women and gives them to men, and at the same time, puts women's health and safety in danger."
Once knowledge of Fleming's biological sex became public, SJSU officials told the women’s volleyball players that they should not speak about it with anyone outside the team. If they were to speak publicly about Fleming being male, they were warned "things would go badly for the team members," according to the complaint.
SJSU continued to hide the information, even from student-athletes who joined the team in 2024.
"Brooke became aware that upon learning that one of their teammates was a trans-identifying male, several of the new recruits became upset, as it was too late for them to transfer, and they felt they had been misled," the complaint reads.
RELATED: Volleyball Player Injured By Trans Athlete Fires Back At Dems Who Dismiss Safety Concerns
According to Slusser, concerns about potential concussions from being hit by a Fleming spike are regularly discussed among her teammates.
And they aren't the only ones. Earlier this month, Southern Utah informed officials at the Santa Clara Tournament that they did not want to compete against SJSU, and their scheduled game was canceled. While Southern Utah would not confirm that Fleming being transgender was the reason for the cancelation, they did not deny it, either.
OUTKICK EXCLUSIVE: Southern Utah Refuses To Play San Jose State Volleyball, Which Has Transgender Player
NCAA Rules Allow For Male Athletes In Women's Sports
SJSU representatives have emphasized to the players that by allowing Fleming to compete on the women’s volleyball team, they are following NCAA rules. The school has no discretion to keep Fleming off the team or to treat Fleming differently than any female.
And that's exactly why Slusser is joining the lawsuit against the NCAA.
"She really views the NCAA transgender eligibility policies as an impediment to women's achievement in sport and as an insurmountable obstacle that closes the door of athletic opportunity to many women," Bock said.
"The reason for that is that there are just inherent physical differences between men and women. And those physical differences ought to be a cause for celebration, but by allowing men who have greatly increased athletic opportunities and athletic potential, based solely on biology, it prevents women from winning titles, celebrating and being acclaimed for their own unique physical abilities."
Former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines testifies during a hearing focused on the Biden Administration's proposed rule changes to Title IX to redefine the definition of sexual discrimination to include gender identity.
((Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images))
The Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) is providing financial backing for the lawsuit. A few other notable female athletes involved in the suit include 12-time All-American swimmer and OutKick host Riley Gaines, Olympian Reka Gyorgy and two-time NCAA champion Kylee Alons.