Nearly one year after Melissa Batie-Smoose slipped into unemployment after San Jose State University did not renew her contract as an assistant volleyball coach, she can watch the institution face consequences from the federal government. Batie-Smoose rose to fame in the “Save Women’s Sports” movement when she filed a Title IX complaint against the university for its handling of transgender athlete Blaire Fleming, in the fall of 2024. Her complaint included the first public allegations that Fleming conspired with an opposing player to have SJSU volleyball co-captain Brooke Slusser spiked in the face during a match. She was suspended from the program, and later not brought back, and she hasn’t been able to find work in her field since. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COMBut Batie-Smoose enjoyed a moment of victory on Wednesday when she learned that the U.S. Department of Education determined that SJSU violated Title IX in its handling of Fleming.”Personally, it was a big win,” Batie-Smoose told Fox News Digital. “It was nice to hear something that we knew all along, right, that we were being violated in the things that the female athletes and myself went through. But this is a big win today.”But now, she wants to see the real consequences. “To move forward, I think for me, it’s winning in the courts. It’s winning, making the university pay high stakes for this,” she said.EX-SJSU VOLLEYBALL COACH DEFENDS FEMALE PLAYER FROM TRANS ATHLETE’S DISPUTED CLAIMS”It’s not over. I don’t want people to think it’s over. We have a huge fight ahead of us, we have to win at the highest level, meaning in the courts.” Batie-Smoose has filed a lawsuit against the Board of Trustees of the California State University (CSU) system, as SJSU is one of 23 California-based schools that are part of the system. Batie-Smoose and her attorney, Vernadette Broyles, believe the suspension was “retaliatory” to her Title IX complaint over Fleming.Now, they expect the Department of Education’s verdict on SJSU will give them ammunition in court.”We would anticipate that it would have a positive effect on her lawsuit,” Broyles said. “When the agency that has been given responsibility to enforce a federal law has come to the conclusion that federal law has been violated, well they’re subject matter experts on that federal law. So courts tend to pay a great deal of attention to the findings of that agency. So it’s going to be very supportive of Melissa’s claims in federal court, and we’re delighted to see that.” Broyles also wants to see the Department of Education intervene directly in the lawsuit.”We would love to see the Department of Education intervene in our lawsuit, whether it’s intervene or issue a statement of interest,” Broyles said. “That would be tremendously helpful.” The Education Department has given the university 10 days to comply with a series of agreements or risk “imminent enforcement action.”The necessary terms include:Batie-Smoose says that, t
Ex-SJSU volleyball coach reacts after Trump admin rules school violated Title IX with trans athlete handling
