Quote:IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES, DECLARATORY, AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF
Plaintiffs Brooke Slusser, Alyssa Sugai, Elle Patterson, Melissa Batie-Smoose, Aleah (“Sia”) Liilii, Nicanora Clarke, Kaylie Ray, Macey Boggs, Sierra Grizzle, Jordan Sandy, Katelyn Van Kirk and Kiersten Van Kirk (collectively the “Plaintiffs”) by and through their counsel, for their Complaint against Defendants The Mountain West Conference (“MWC”), Gloria Nevarez, Commissioner of the MWC, Board of Trustees of the University of the California State University
(“CSU Board”), Laura Alexander, Todd Kress, Michelle McDonald Smith and Cynthia TenienteMatson, President of San Jose State University (“SJSU”) (collectively the “Defendants”), under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq., 28 U.S.C. § 1983, and the Declaratory Judgments Act, seeking damages, declaratory, injunctive, and other necessary and proper relief, including emergency injunctive relief in advance of the MWC women’s volleyball tournament to take place in Las Vegas, Nevada commencing on November 27, 2024[1] state:
I. INTRODUCTION
1. There is a robust national debate regarding the topic of transgender identifying males competing against girls and women in sport.
2. A Gallup poll conducted in June 2023 indicated that 69% of Americans believe that men[2] should not play on women’s sports teams.[3]
3. The U.N. Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls has recently reported that U.S. policies, such as those of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the MWC that permit men to play on women’s sports teams harm women, are inconsistent with the United States’ international treaty obligations, and that collectively such rules have around the globe resulted in the loss of nearly 900 medals and podium placements by women.[4]
4. Despite vast public support for protecting women’s opportunities and safety in sport by excluding men from women’s teams, the NCAA, MWC, SJSU and other public colleges and universities have engaged in a purposeful and illegal assault on the rights of women athletes.
5. Recently, the MWC, SJSU, and the other Defendants have collectively manipulated MWC rules, diminished sport opportunities for women, spread inaccurate information, used their positions to chill and suppress speech with which they disagree, and punished dozens of female collegiate volleyball student-athletes for taking a public stand for their right to compete in a separate sports category, all in a concerted effort to stamp out debate over women’s rights in sport.
6. Absent prompt court intervention the MWC’s unlawful actions will adversely impact the rights of women student-athletes in the upcoming MWC women’s volleyball championship tournament to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 27-30, 2024, at which a bid to the NCAA women’s volleyball national championship tournament will be awarded.
7. As Defendants’ actions violate federal law, including the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq. and its implementing regulations (“Title IX”), Plaintiffs are entitled to preliminary and permanent injunctive relief. Plaintiffs are further entitled to permanent declaratory relief, damages, and other appropriate relief.

[1] In advance of this filing, Plaintiffs have communicated with legal counsel for the two Defendants against whom emergency relief will be sought (i.e., MWC and the CSU Board) and are attempting to effectuate a resolution of matters related to the MWC conference tournament without the need to file a motion for emergency relief. In the event such relief is not available by agreement within a short time frame, a motion for emergency relief will be filed.

[2] “Sex” “Male” “Female” “Man” and “Woman” used in this Complaint refer solely to binary, biological sex and not a person’s “gender identity.” See Adams by & through Kasper v. Sch. Bd. of St. Johns Cnty., 57 F.4th 791, 812 (11th Cir. 2022) (Title IX defines “sex” “based on biology and reproductive function.”); Black’s Law Dictionary (5th ed. 1979) (“Sex. The sum of the peculiarities of structure and function that distinguish a male from a female organism[.]”); see also Bostock v. Clayton Cnty., Ga., 590 U.S. 644, 655 (2020) (“sex” in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 “refer[s] only to biological distinctions between male and female”).

[3] See https://news.gallup.com/poll/507023/say-birth-gender-dictate-sports-participation.aspx (“A larger majority of Americans now (69%) than in 2021 (62%) say transgender athletes should only be allowed to compete on sports teams that conform with their birth gender. Likewise, fewer endorse transgender athletes being able to play on teams that match their current gender identity, 26%, down from 34%.”).

[4] See https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n24/249/94/pdf/n2424994.pdf