A federal judge heard a lawsuit Thursday involving San Jose State University (SJSU) volleyball player Brooke Slusser and 10 teammates, who are petitioning the Mountain West Conference to prohibit teammate Blaire Flemming, a biological male, from participating in the tournament.
The lawsuit stems from concerns that SJSU may win the tournament without playing the championship match, as five other teams in the conference have thus far forfeited a combined seven matches against SJSU, citing safety concerns over Flemming’s inclusion on the team.
A conference spokesperson confirmed to Fox News that “if we get to a championship game, and it’s San Jose State vs. whoever, if that institution forfeits the game, then San Jose State wins that match, and then they are tournament champions. And they would be the automatic qualifier out of the Mountain West.” The tournament is scheduled to begin on November 27.
The hearing on Thursday began with a 45-minute-long debate between the parties over which pronouns judge Kato Crews would use when referring to Flemming throughout the proceedings. Crews ruled that he would use “she/her” pronouns, claiming that this did not necessarily reflect his position on the issues of the case themselves.
At the conclusion of the hearing, Crews said he would decide the case as quickly as possible.
Slusser and her teammates expressed that they worried about whether they would play any games at all during the tournament as a consequence of Flemming’s inclusion on the team.
“We’re just mostly wondering are teams even gonna play us, period, if we go there? Because of just everything that’s happened this season,” Slusser said. “It seems like every few days it looks like It’ll be a fine day and everything’s normal and then something else happens.”
Additionally, Slusser and her teammates are also asking that the conference erase forfeits from the season records of teams who refused to play against SJSU based on safety concerns. In the suit, Slusser alleged that Flemming’s spikes traveled at speeds upwards of 80 mph; as a consequence, opposing players “were doing everything they could to dodge Fleming’s spikes but still could not fully protect themselves.”
In a statement given to Campus Reform, SJSU said that it “will continue to support its student-athletes and reject discrimination in all forms. All San José State University student-athletes are eligible to participate in their sports under NCAA and Mountain West Conference rules. We appreciate the Court’s focus on these issues and we look forward to the ruling.”
Campus Reform has reached out to SJSU for comment. This story will be updated accordingly.
This article was originally published at campusreform.org
