Ex-SJSU volleyball coach files new suit alleging retaliation over Trump support, religion

Right · 1Melissa Batie-Smoose, a former assistant volleyball coach at San José State University (SJSU), filed a new federal lawsuit on Oct. 13 in the Northern District of California, according to Fox News's OutKick. 1 Right · 1The complaint names the California State University trustees and 11 university employees, including head coach Todd Kress. 1 Right · 2She alleges Kress mocked her in front of players, calling her "Trump-loving" or a "Trump lover", and reacted with hostility when she said her religious beliefs prevented her from treating a male athlete as female. 1 2

Right · 2The complaint also alleges that Kress excluded her from meetings, reduced her coaching duties, and once "cornered, yelled at, and berated her" in an office, leaving her feeling physically unsafe; she says her report to athletics HR brought no discipline for Kress. 1 2 Right · 1Batie-Smoose says she worked with Kress at Florida State in 2006 and at Fairfield University from 2019 to 2022, and moved her family from Connecticut to California in January 2023 to join SJSU; she says she learned only after arriving that Blaire Fleming was transgender. 1 Right · 2On Oct. 29, 2024, she submitted a Title IX complaint alleging unequal treatment; days later SJSU placed her on paid administrative leave, and on Nov. 2 an administrator barred her from the gym about 90 minutes before a home match. 1 2

Right · 1Her suspension letter cited a complaint dated Oct. 24, 2024, with allegations including disclosure of confidential student information, drinking with athletes on team travel, inappropriate language and failure to coach athletes; she says these were a pretext, denies the disclosure and language claims, and acknowledges having a drink in an airport lounge while adult players were present. 1 Right · 1On Jan. 31, 2025, athletics director Jeff Konya notified her that her temporary appointment would not be renewed, in a letter issued on behalf of President Cynthia Teniente-Matson. 1 Right · 1Her first suit, filed last October, was dismissed on Sept. 4 by Judge Noël Wise, who found the allegations did not plausibly link the suspension or nonrenewal to her sex or protected advocacy and wrote that she was "disciplined for violating a confidentiality law, not for opposing discrimination on the basis of sex"; the ruling allowed amendment within 21 days. 1

Right · 1The new complaint also cites a report, first covered by Fox News Digital in July, that a former Fairfield player accused Kress of a 1998 hotel-room assault, and argues SJSU's handling of it shows disparate treatment; the allegation against Kress is not adjudicated in the coverage. 1 Right · 1An SJSU spokesperson said the school cannot comment because of pending litigation, and a CSU spokesperson said the system was reviewing the claims. 1 Right · 2The suit comes amid a wider dispute: in January 2026 the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights found SJSU violated Title IX, and Breitbart, citing the New York Post, reports SJSU's president later announced that the school and CSU are suing the federal government over that determination. 1 2