8 hours ago
3
ESPN News Services
Nov 26, 2024, 02:12 PM ET
DENVER -- On Tuesday, a federal appeals court upheld a ruling that allows a San Jose State women's volleyball team member to play in this week's Mountain West Conference tournament after a legal complaint said she should be ineligible on grounds that she is transgender.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with U.S. District Judge S. Kato Crews in Denver. He rejected the request for an emergency injunction, finding that the players and others who challenged the league's policy for allowing transgender athletes to participate should have filed the complaint earlier.
The players also asked that four teams that had conference losses for refusing to play against San Jose State during the regular season have those losses removed from their records and that the tournament be reseeded based on the updated records.
The athlete in question has played for San Jose State for the past three seasons, but her participation only became an issue this season. The conference policy regarding forfeiting for refusing to play against a team with a transgender player has also been in effect since 2022, the conference said.
The volleyball player has not spoken about her identity, and San Jose State has not commented on her identity due to federal privacy laws. ESPN is not naming the player.
In his ruling Monday, Crews did not weigh the fairness or safety issues that the plaintiffs allege in the lawsuit. Instead, he ruled that the emergency nature of the hearing was unnecessary because the Mountain West's transgender participation policy had been in place since 2022 and that the forfeiting teams were aware of the policy.
Injunctions are meant to preserve the status quo, Crews said, and the athlete in question playing is the status quo.
The appeals court ruling came after the players filed an emergency appeal of Crews' order.
The players and others who sued are disappointed that the appeals court found it would be "too disruptive" to enter an injunction the day before the tournament is scheduled to start, said William Bock III, an attorney for the plaintiffs.
The appeals court said the plaintiffs' "claims appear to present a substantial question and may have merit," but they have not made a clear case for emergency relief.
"Plaintiffs look forward to ultimately receiving justice in this case when they prove these legal violations in court and to the day when men are no longer allowed to harm women and wreak havoc in women's sport," Bock said in a statement.
The tournament starts Wednesday in Las Vegas, but top-seeded Colorado State and second-seeded San Jose State have byes into Friday's semifinal matches.
The conference said Monday that it was "satisfied" with the judge's decision and would continue upholding policies established by its board of directors, which "directly align with NCAA and USA Volleyball."
"We are excited to proceed with the Mountain West Conference Women's Volleyball Championship," its statement added.
The winner of the Mountain West tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, which begins Dec. 5. That bracket will be revealed Sunday.
ESPN's Katie Barnes and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
