San Jose State University (SJSU) has suspended an assistant volleyball coach indefinitely for speaking out against the inclusion of transgender player Blaire Fleming on the team’s roster, according to OutKick.
“The associate head coach of the San Jose State University women’s volleyball team is not with the team at this time, and we will not provide further information on this matter,” the school said in a statement to OutKick.
The suspension follows a tumultuous week in which assistant coach Melissa Batie-Smoose took public and legal action against the school by filing a Title IX complaint and giving an interview in which she lamented the toxic culture created by the school’s aggressively enforced trans-inclusion policy.
At the heart of the Title IX complaint, in a report obtained by Quilette, is an allegation from Batie-Smoose that Fleming, the transgender player, and another teammate engaged in a conspiracy to help San Jose State lose a match and injure SJSU player Brooke Slusser.
Slusser is a member of women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines’ Title IX suit against the NCAA that accuses SJSU of deliberately covering up the fact that Fleming was a male.
Specifically, Batie-Smoose alleges Fleming and another teammate violated team rules by leaving their hotel on October 3 to meet with Colorado State player Malaya Jones. During this meeting, Fleming and the unnamed SJSU player gave Jones scouting reports on their team, and Fleming agreed that he would not block any shots from Colorado State directed at Slusser.
Quilette reports that Batie-Smoose became aware of the plot after the unnamed SJSU player confessed it to her.
The early October matchup between SJSU and Colorado State was the first game after Slusser’s first critical public statement against Fleming on September 30.
The timing of Slusser’s statement and the date of the conspiratorial meeting involving Fleming and the Colorado State player led Batie-Smoose to conclude the plot was a direct retaliation for speaking out against the transgender player.
The Mountain West Conference says it is aware of the allegations, “reviewing the document, and has initiated an investigation to gather all the facts.”
The allegations against Fleming are as explosive as they are serious. If proven, it’s unimaginable that he would be allowed to continue to play for SJSU.
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