Girls’ volleyball should be for girls—and San José State must answer for sidelining the coach who spoke up
The new complaint adds religious and political retaliation claims as federal investigators’ Title IX findings sharpen questions about how San José State treated female athletes.
Girls’ volleyball should be for girls, and San José State should answer for sidelining the coach who spoke up for female athletes. Former San José State associate head volleyball coach Melissa Batie-Smoose has filed a new federal lawsuit alleging the university suspended and fired her after she raised concerns about a transgender athlete on the women’s team1.
On October 14, OutKick reporter Jackson Thompson reported that the complaint alleges head coach Todd Kress mocked her for supporting Trump and for her religious objections. She also alleges that certain interactions with Kress made her feel "physically unsafe2." The complaint was filed October 13 in the Northern District of California and names the California State University trustees and 11 university employees, including Kress. It describes an August 2023 confrontation in which Kress followed her into her office and cornered, yelled at, and berated her. The complaint also says Kress received no disciplinary action for his behavior toward her3. ” CSU said it was “still reviewing the claims. Can a coach speak for female athletes without risking her job?
Federal investigators flagged SJSU’s unequal discipline
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights concluded that San Jose State violated Title IX in its treatment of athletic participation, sex-separated facilities and the handling of discrimination complaints. The January 28, 2026, findings letter also cited investigator notes that Kress crossed the FERPA line in his interview with ESPN, referring to the federal student privacy law. The same records show officials worried that suspending Kress could “spark more media attention” and “unduly disrupt the team.”3 Batie-Smoose alleges she faced consequences for raising concerns about the same team. The federal record shows the university weighed the fallout from disciplining the coach named in the complaints. Whose interests did the school put first?
Her complaint was followed by removal
Her Title IX complaint was followed by leave and removal Batie-Smoose submitted a Title IX complaint on October 29, 2024, alleging unequal treatment and failures to address concerns inside the program. Days later, the university placed her on paid administrative leave. Her lawsuit says that on November 2, about 90 minutes before a home match, a university administrator blocked her entry to the gym and told her to leave. The suspension letter referenced a complaint against her dated Oct. 24, five days before her own Title IX submission. On January 31, 2025, athletics director Jeff Konya notified her that her temporary coaching appointment would not be renewed, in a letter issued for university President Cynthia Teniente-Matson3. A school that answers a Title IX complaint with leave and a non-renewal letter has told every female athlete what a complaint costs.
The new suit adds claims after dismissal
Judge Noël Wise dismissed Batie-Smoose’s previous complaint on September 4, finding that the allegations did not plausibly connect the suspension or nonrenewal to her sex or protected advocacy. Wise wrote that the complaint supported the conclusion that she was disciplined for disclosing student information, not for opposing sex discrimination. The new case adds that her treatment was tied, at least in part, to the content and viewpoint of her speech and the exercise of her religious beliefs1. She requests reinstatement to her former job or a comparable position, back pay, punitive damages against individually liable defendants and a jury trial3.
The California State University system sued the federal government on March 6, arguing that the government was attempting to punish SJSU retroactively for conduct consistent with the law, federal guidance and NCAA rules in effect during the 2022–24 seasons3. The court should hear those claims.
Parents should ask who stands with girls
Executive Order 14201, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” signed February 5, 2025, sets federal policy to rescind funds from educational programs that allow males to compete in women’s sports4. On February 6, 2025, the NCAA changed its policy to restrict competition on women’s teams to athletes assigned female at birth. On June 30, 2026, the Supreme Court upheld restrictions in West Virginia and Idaho, and its ruling says schools may reserve female teams by biological sex3. Federal investigators nevertheless found that San José State violated Title IX.
Parents whose daughters play at San José State or any California State campus should ask the CSU trustees, named in the complaint3, whether a coach can raise fairness concerns without losing her job. Watch the Northern District of California docket in Batie-Smoose v. Board of Trustees of the California State University, No. 5:26-cv-118085, and ask the trustees whether a coach who raised concerns about girls’ fairness will get her job back.
Sources
- San Jose State Coach Claims Trans Dispute Led to Firing (1)
- @JackThompsonFOX on X, 2026-10-14: BREAKING: Former SJSU assistant volleyball coach Melissa Batie-Smoose has filed a lawsuit that contains brand new allegations about the school's infamous trans athlete scandal. She alleges coach Todd Kress mocked her for supporting Trump and her religious, 2026-10-14
- Ex-SJSU volleyball coach files new lawsuit alleging retaliation for Trump support, religion amid trans scandal | OutKick
- Federal Register, 90 FR 9279
- Batie-Smoose v. The Board of Trustees of the California State University et al — 5:26-cv-11808
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