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EXCLUSIVE: San Jose State University’s transgender volleyball player controversy reignited last week. Fox News Digital reported that the Mountain West Conference hired the same law firm to investigate the trans athlete’s misconduct allegations that the conference was using to defend the athlete’s eligibility for the conference tournament in court.
The White House released a statement addressing the revelation, and now the lawyer leading a lawsuit against SJSU and the Mountain West on behalf of 11 current or former conference women’s athletes, William Bock, has spoken out against the conference in the aftermath of the revelation.
“It is outrageous, improper, and deceptive that the MWC hired the same law firm to both conduct a supposedly independent investigation of its member SJSU and defend the MWC in a federal lawsuit about MWC’s joint conduct and actions with SJSU,” Bock said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
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Fox News Digital reported on June 24 that the Mountain West hired the firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher (WFG) to investigate allegations against Blaire Fleming of conspiring with an opponent to have teammate Brooke Slusser harmed during an Oct. 3 game.
The Mountain West hired the firm to handle the investigation in the same month that the same firm represented the conference to protect Fleming’s eligibility in a request for preliminary injunction to have the trans athlete disqualified from women’s competition and the conference tournament.
Brooke Slusser and Blaire Fleming of the San Jose State Spartans call a play during the first set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym on October 19, 2024 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)
The investigation closed after just three days, and documents obtained by Fox News Digital showed that investigators repeatedly incorrectly dated the game as being played on Oct. 2.
The WFG attorney who led the investigation into allegations against Fleming, Tim Heaphy, later offered the school legal counsel to help it navigate a federal Title IX investigation over the same situation, as seen in public records obtained by Fox News Digital. The offer was declined.
Bock said the revelation “astonished” him.
“I was astonished to learn WFG was representing the MWC against Brooke Slusser’s lawsuit at the same time another lawyer from that firm was supposedly independently investigating the attempt to injure Brooke and whether SJSU and the MWC adequately investigated those facts,” Bock’s statement continued.
“Hiring WFG to perform such conflicted and mutually exclusive roles suggests that Commissioner Nevarez and the MWC had no interest in discovering the truth. Instead, the MWC has long been focused solely upon advancing the interests of SJSU and pushing the narrative that men should be allowed in women’s college sports locker rooms and showers and to compete against women in college sports.”
Bock called for the U.S. Department of Education to look into the situation.
“The report from Fox News provides more evidence of the MWC’s scheme to work side-by-side with SJSU to promote trans ideology and harm women athletes while hiding the truth from the public. The conclusions from the WFG investigator favoring MWC’s and SJSU’s positions in federal court allowed his law partners to continue to milk the MWC for legal fees and then positioned that same investigator to later seek to monetize his relationship with the MWC to defend SJSU in a federal investigation over the very claims he supposedly ‘independently’ investigated,” Bock’s statement said.
“These shocking revelations of conflicts of interest entirely discredit the MWC and will hopefully be fully investigated in the reported probe of SJSU’s conduct by the U.S. Department of Education. Certainly, this investigator is likely to become a key witness in Brooke Slusser’s federal lawsuit against the MWC and SJSU, as his hiring and conduct is additional evidence that the MWC worked hand-in-glove with SJSU and was far more concerned with promoting a narrative than protecting women.”
Bock leads Slusser’s lawsuit against SJSU and the Mountain West, and also leads a larger lawsuit against the NCAA led by former college swimmer and current “OutKick” host Riley Gaines.
WHO IS BLAIRE FLEMING? SJSU VOLLEYBALL PLAYER DOMINATING FEMALE RIVALS AND ENRAGING WOMEN’S RIGHTS GROUPS
Bock previously called the conference’s investigation into Fleming’s allegations “inadequate, and anything but thorough” in a Nov. 17 statement and called for the evidence to be disclosed.
No evidence was ever disclosed by the conference, as Fleming went on to finish out the season, earn all-conference honors and even led SJSU all the way to the Mountain West championship game. The trans athlete traveled and roomed alongside female teammates to Las Vegas in the final week of November for the conference tournament.
After leading the investigation that cleared Fleming’s charges in November, Heaphy reached back out to San Jose State’s university legal counsel Dustin May on Feb. 6, offering to help navigate a federal probe. President Donald Trump just signed an executive order to try and enforce that mandate just weeks into his presidency on Feb. 5. And just one day after that, Trump’s Department of Education launched an investigation into SJSU over the Fleming situation.
May declined Heaphy’s offer on Feb. 18, but Heaphy responded the next day, writing, “Please let me know if we can help in any way on this or other issues.”
None of WFG’s attorneys have been accused of violating any applicable rules of professional conduct.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Mountain West, San Jose State and Willkie Farr & Gallagher for a response to Bock’s statement.
The DOE’s investigation into SJSU’s handling of the situation involving Fleming is ongoing.
The White House provided a statement addressing the recent revelations to Fox News Digital.
“President Trump is committed to ending the dangerous and unfair participation of men in women’s sports and restoring common sense. President Trump will continue to speak out and take immediate action against schools that are jeopardizing the safety of female athletes,” White House spokesperson Liz Huston said.
Meanwhile, Bock is continuing his lawsuit against SJSU and the Mountain West on behalf of Slusser and the other 10 players on the lawsuit.
Bock’s office filed a response to motions to dismiss the case on June 23. The response made mention of the allegations against Fleming of misconduct.
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WFG and the Mountain West’s legal battle to keep the trans athlete in the women’s tournament was successful, as federal Judge Kato Crews, appointed by President Joe Biden in January 2024, ruled in favor of Fleming’s eligibility on Nov. 25.
Two days later, after a failed appeal by the plaintiffs, the firm posted an online press release announcing the legal victory to keep Fleming eligible to play.
But that webpage has since been deleted. Fox News Digital asked why the page no longer exists, but Willkie Farr & Gallagher did not respond to the inquiry.
Archived data shows the original press release stating, “Willkie secured a high-profile win for collegiate athletic conference Mountain West Conference in a suit brought by members of San Jose State University’s women’s volleyball team and other Mountain West teams that played against SJSU.”
Fox News Digital previously reached out to the Mountain West, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, San Jose State University and its head volleyball coach Todd Kress regarding the previous findings. No response has been provided by those parties.
May’s office initially responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment after providing the public records, requesting a list of questions and background information be provided before speaking. Fox News Digital did not provide the information or list of comments, and requested a virtual or phone interview.
May’s office then responded with the statement, “Any speculation that the firm or attorney mentioned in your inquiry represented SJSU or the CSU is unfounded.” Fox News Digital had not posed that question or any other stipulation, only an interview request, at that point.
Fox News Digital later followed up with May’s office requesting an interview to address other questions, and fulfilled his office’s request to provide background information on what would be discussed.
May’s office responded saying, “He will not be available,” and has not responded to request for further comment.
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