Ex-SJSU volleyball coach files new lawsuit alleging retaliation for Trump support, religion amid trans scandal

EXCLUSIVE: Former San Jose State University volleyball assistant coach has filed a new lawsuit over her alleged treatment during and before the school's scandal involving transgender athlete Blaire Fleming and female teammate Brooke Slusser.

Melissa Batie-Smoose filed an initial lawsuit last October, but it was dismissed in September.

But she's not backing down, and is now making new allegations about what happened before she was suspended and eventually let go from her position.

Her new complaint alleges that SJSU head volleyball coach Todd Kress mocked her for supporting Donald Trump in front of players, reacted with hostility to her religious objections to a transgender athlete’s participation, and made her feel "physically unsafe" during certain interactions.

The complaint alleges she repeatedly told Kress, "in substance," that "God made man and woman" and that her beliefs prevented her from treating a male athlete as female.

She claims Kress responded with hostility toward those beliefs and disparaged her politics.

CAMPUS CONFLICT EXPOSED AT THE CORE OF SJSU'S MESSY FIGHT VS TRUMP ADMIN OVER VOLLEYBALL SCANDAL "Kress would also berate her during practice in front of the athletes, calling her ‘Trump-loving’ or a ‘Trump lover’ and mocking her political affiliation," the complaint states.

Elsewhere, the filing alleges that Kress knew she was a Republican who had voted for Trump and used those remarks to damage her relationship with players, excluded her from meetings and reduced coaching duties.

The relationship at the center of the new complaint began well before the controversy.

Batie-Smoose says she worked with Kress at Florida State in 2006 and again at Fairfield University from 2019 through 2022.

When Kress moved to San Jose State, she accepted the associate head coaching position and relocated her family from Connecticut to California in January 2023.

Batie-Smoose has previously alleged she learned that Fleming was transgender only after arriving in 2023.

Over the next two seasons, Batie-Smoose says, disagreements about Fleming’s participation became entangled with her relationship with Kress, her responsibilities on the court and her standing inside the athletic department.

One alleged confrontation described in the complaint began with a canceled recruiting visit.