Teammate of SJSU trans volleyball player Blaire Fleming joins lawsuit against NCAA

A current teammate of Blaire Fleming, a transgender man on San Jose State's undefeated women's volleyball team, has joined more than a dozen other female athletes in suing the NCAA for Title IX violations.

The class action lawsuit, originally filed in March, alleges that the NCAA knowingly violated Title IX, the federal law that guarantees equal opportunities for men and women in higher education and sports. Brooke Slusser, the starting player and co-captain of the SJSU team, says she was forced to both compete and live with Fleming without first learning that the athlete was male.

READ: ICONS Files Lawsuit Against NCAA Over Its Transgender Policy; Riley Gaines: We fight for young girls

Fleming, a redshirt senior, previously played at Coastal Carolina University and played on the SJSU women's team the past three seasons. As OutKick reported in April, the school initially hid the fact that the 6-foot-1 outside hitter was born male, and allegedly concealed that fact from Slusser as well.

The San Jose State women's volleyball team, which includes transgender player Blaire Fleming (#3), is undefeated this season.

(San Jose State University Athletics)

After transferring from Alabama to SJSU in the fall of 2023, Slusser began sharing an apartment with four of her teammates, including Fleming. At no point during her recruitment, nor during the 2023 season, was she informed that a male athlete was on the team.

Additionally, Slusser was often hosted by Fleming on road trips by the SJSU athletic department. She later found out that Fleming had specifically requested her.

According to the complaint, Slusser noticed that “Fleming played volleyball with a bounce and strength that exceeded that of any girl on the team.” But it wasn't until she overheard a conversation among students who were calling Fleming a “guy” that she realized why that was the case.

Blaire Fleming's teammate raises safety concerns

The SJSU Spartans have experienced a historic yearstarted the season with a program-best record of 8-0 and dropped only four sets out of the 28 sets they played all year. Fleming has the second-most kills on the team (103) and kills per set (3.68).

Slusser said that while she didn't want Fleming to be bullied, she was uncomfortable with the trans athlete's presence on the team. She wondered if it was safe or fair for the other women on the team and for the opposing teams. Slusser saw Fleming hit the ball with more power and much harder than any woman she had ever played against.

“One thing that is really important in this case is the physical safety issues in volleyball,” Slusser’s attorney Bill Bock told OutKick. “And that’s what they face in practice every day. So it’s just a crazy, misguided policy that steals athletic dreams from women and gives them to men, while endangering women’s health and safety.”

When knowledge of Fleming's biological sex became known, SJSU officials told the volleyball players not to discuss it with anyone outside the team. If they spoke publicly about Fleming being a man, they were warned “it would make team members feel bad,” the complaint says.

SJSU continued to hide the information, even from student-athletes who joined the team in 2024.

“Brooke became aware that several of the new recruits were upset when they learned that one of their teammates was a trans-identifying man, as it was too late to change and they felt they had been misled,” it said it in the complaint.

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According to Slusser, concerns about possible concussions from a Fleming spike are regularly discussed among her teammates.

And they're not the only ones. Earlier this month, Southern Utah informed Santa Clara tournament officials that they did not want to play SJSU and the scheduled game was canceled. While Southern Utah wouldn't confirm that Fleming's transgender nature was the reason for the cancellation, it didn't deny it either.

OUTKICK EXCLUSIVE: Southern Utah refuses to play San Jose State volleyball, which has transgender players

NCAA rules allow male athletes in women's sports

SJSU officials have stressed to players that they are following NCAA rules by allowing Fleming to compete on the women's volleyball team. The school has no discretion to keep Fleming off the team or to treat Fleming differently than any other woman.

And that's exactly why Slusser is joining the lawsuit against the NCAA.

“She actually views the NCAA's transgender eligibility guidelines as a barrier to women's athletic achievement and an insurmountable obstacle that closes the door to athletic opportunities for many women,” Bock said.

“The reason for this is that there are simply inherent physical differences between men and women. And these physical differences should be cause for celebration, but by allowing men who have greatly improved their athletic ability and potential based on biology alone, it is possible to prevent women from winning titles, their unique ones celebrate physical abilities and be praised for them.”

Former college swimmer Riley Gaines testifies during a hearing focused on the Biden administration's proposed rule changes to Title IX to redefine the definition of sexual discrimination to include gender identity.

((Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images))

The Independent Council on Women's Sports (ICONS) is supporting the lawsuit financially. Other notable female athletes involved in the lawsuit include 12-time All-American swimmer and OutKick host Riley Gaines, Olympian Reka Gyorgy and two-time NCAA champion Kylee Alons.