A former San Jose State women’s volleyball coach has come forward with detailed allegations about preferential treatment given to a transgender player.
Melissa Batie-Smoose, who was suspended in November 2024, claims her dismissal was retaliatory after she filed a Title IX complaint against the university and volleyball player Blaire Fleming. Last week, Batie-Smoose escalated the matter by filing a lawsuit against the Board of Trustees of the California State University system.
The coach’s allegations paint a picture of an athletics program where special accommodations were allegedly made for one player while others followed standard protocols. According to Batie-Smoose, Fleming received privileges that were not extended to other team members.
“Blaire wanted to room with Brooke Slusser, and that’s who Blaire felt comfortable [with], so Blaire gets what Blaire wants,” Batie-Smoose told Fox News, confirming earlier reports about Fleming’s ability to choose roommates for away trips.
The accommodations allegedly went beyond housing arrangements. Batie-Smoose claims Fleming was permitted to miss practice without consequences and engage in behavior that would not have been tolerated from other players.
“Not showing up to practice with no excuses, sitting in the stands eating while practice was going on, those kind of things,” Batie-Smoose described as examples of the special treatment Fleming received.
Fleming has pushed back against these characterizations, offering a different perspective on the missed practice allegations. “The only times I showed up to practice with ‘no excuse’ and sat in the stands was when I was injured and couldn’t play. Brooke Slusser and Melissa need to get a life,” Fleming responded to Fox News.
The controversy extends beyond practice attendance and rooming arrangements. Batie-Smoose’s original Title IX complaint included serious allegations about on-court conduct, including claims that Fleming conspired with an opposing player to deliberately target team co-captain Brooke Slusser during a match on October 3.
The coach also revealed that she was not informed about Fleming’s transgender status until after accepting her position at San Jose State. She alleges that head coach Todd Kress disclosed this information with a clear warning.
“[Head coach] Todd Kress told me in passing… because I was asking… ‘Oh, by the way, Blaire is a male,'” Batie-Smoose recounted. She claims Kress then informed her that revealing Fleming’s identity to other athletes or parents would result in her termination.
This revelation has added another layer to the ongoing legal battles surrounding the team. Brooke Slusser, the team’s co-captain, has joined a lawsuit against the NCAA, alleging that SJSU failed to disclose Fleming’s biological sex to teammates.
The situation has created ripple effects throughout the Mountain West Conference, with multiple opposing teams choosing to forfeit games rather than compete against San Jose State while Fleming remained on the roster.
Batie-Smoose maintains that her focus was always on protecting what she viewed as the rights and safety of female athletes. “I knew it from the day that I saw Blaire play, but for me it was a focus on the female athletes, that’s really why I knew I was here, I had a purpose beyond coaching, which was to protect the female athletes for their privacy, safety and wellbeing,” she explained.
The former coach emphasized that she “never talked to Blaire” and had no prior experience coaching a transgender athlete, positioning herself as someone who was thrust into an unprecedented situation without adequate preparation or guidance.
The legal proceedings are expected to continue as both Batie-Smoose’s lawsuit and the broader NCAA case work their way through the court system.
