The former San Jose State University (SJSU) Women’s Volleyball Associate Head Coach has filed a federal employment and Title IX lawsuit against the California State University Board of Trustees alleging discrimination and retaliation.
According to the Complaint, upon her arrival at SJSU in 2024, Coach Melissa Batie-Smoose learned the school had recruited a male athlete, who identifies as a woman, to play on its NCAA Division 1 women’s volleyball team. In October 2024, she filed a Title IX complaint against SJSU and the NCAA opposing his participation on the women’s team. According to the court filing, shortly thereafter Coach Batie-Smoose was suspended on the basis that she had violated the male athlete’s private information (i.e. that he was male), despite his sex being published in the media. In January 2025, she was terminated, as described in the complaint, under the pretext that her contract had expired.
In the lawsuit filed late last week, the former coach alleges that “Defendant’s actions in suspending and terminating Plaintiff were not based on her job performance but were in direct retaliation for her opposition to sex discrimination and her advocacy for the fairness and equal access to programs, services, and activities for female athletes.” Erin Friday, one of the attorneys for Coach Batie-Smoose and President of Our Duty, a parent advocacy group, told LIF that the coach “is one of the few public voices willing to advocate for females despite knowing that she risked her job.”
The suit highlights that another coach who supported the male athlete on the women’s team was not disciplined, even though his actions were “direct violations of Title IX in recruiting a male athlete to play as a female, failing to inform the female players of a male being on the team, sharing locker rooms and overnight accommodations with female players.”
The complaint also includes the shocking allegation that the male athlete, along with other team members, met with a player from an opposing team to discuss “throwing the game” and targeting for injury a fellow teammate who had joined a lawsuit against the NCAA for its policy allowing males to compete in men’s sports.
The lawsuit references Trump’s Executive Order 14168 “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” Attorney Friday describes the EO as “incredibly impactful to provide a stronger legal basis to challenge males who claim to be women from invading female spaces but the liberal states are ignoring it, choosing instead to unlawfully accept Title IX funding while the cases move forward.”
Noting that polls show that 80% of Americans are against males competing as females, Friday says that the “Democrats are either more terrified of the transgender lobby than their own constituents, or really just do not care about the fairness, safety and dignity of females. Either way, the treatment of females will be a prominent issue in the mid-terms with the Democrats on the wrong side.”
Among other requested relief, the suit seeks reinstatement, back pay, compensatory and punitive damages.
I reached out to Cal State for comment on the lawsuit, but have not received a response as of this writing.
Amanda Stulman is a Senior Researcher and Attorney at the Legal Insurrection Foundation
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