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Las Vegas – EXCLUSIVE: The Mountain West conference has addressed concerns about an investigation into the alleged misconduct of the former transgender volleyball player of San José Blaire Fleming in an exclusive statement proportionate to Pak Gazette Digital. The statement also clarified an erroneous response from the commissioner of Mountain West, Gloria Nevarez, to a question about the subject at a press conference on Wednesday.
Pak Gazette Digital reported in June that the conference hired the law firm Willkie Farr and Gallagher (WFG) to investigate the accusations against Fleming of conspiracy with an opponent to damage his teammate Brooke Slusser in November. The same company defended the west mountain against a request for a preliminary court order that would have ruled Fleming ineligible to compete in female volleyball in that same month.
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The commissioner of Mountain West Gloria Nevarez in Football Media Days at the Circa Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. (Photos of Lena Sattarin/NCAA)
Pak Gazette Digital questioned Nevarez at his Mountain West Media Day Press Conference on the subject, asking “in November, Mountain West launched a bad behavior investigation in a volleyball player in the state of San José. Why did the conference hired the same law firm that was hired to defend the eligibility of the player in the court to carry out that investigation, and was it any concern for a conflict of interest?
Nevarez replied: “Well, that is a question about active litigation, so I am not going to comment on ongoing litigation. But the statement that the law firm represented the school to defend the player is incorrect.”
Pak Gazette Digital asked: “Why is it wrong?”
Nevarez replied: “Because that’s not, that, the lawyer who did our investigation did not represent the State of San José.” Pak Gazette Digital did not hint in his question or has reported that the law firm would represent the state of San José.
Pak Gazette Digital continued immediately during the press conference, saying: “I was representing the west mountain to defend the eligibility of the player in court.” Nevarez did not respond, remaining silent for several seconds.
Pak Gazette Digital then asked: “Are you sure your legal defense?”
Nevarez replied: “Um, yes.”
Pak Gazette Digital tried to interrogate Nevarez about his answer shortly after his press conference ended while talking with other reporters, but ignored the investigation and left. An associate of media relations of Mountain West West said: “Lord, we have to reach another interview.”
The West Mountain then provided his statement that he said that Nevarez “believed” that the initial question was to ask about the law firm that represents SJSU.
“Commissioner Nevarez believed he was asking about our law firm, Willkie Farr and Gallagher, who represents both Mountain West and the State of San José. He clarified that he was asking about a possible conflict of interest with the demand related to a policy of the conference and the investigation of the party,” said the statement.
Lawyer firm who worked to keep SJSU’s trans player eligible also authorized the conspiracy athlete to damage his teammate
The statement also stated that WFG did not defend Fleming’s eligibility in the November legal dispute.
“To be clear, Willkie Farr & Gallagher is defending Mountain West’s policy regarding mistakes, not the eligibility of a student-attach. Eligibility is determined by the policy of the NCAA and the University, not by the conference office. The investigation focused on the alleged misconduct of the players. The two issues in question are not related and, therefore, there are no conflicts of interest.”
Four opponents of the conference lost the games to SJSU in 2024, and the state of the lost matches and the impact of the sowing of the conference were challenged in the request for preliminary mandate. However, Fleming’s eligibility to continue the season and play at the conference was challenged, as well as a key point.
WFG eliminated a press release on November 27 from its website that announced that the company had obtained a legal victory for Mountain West against the plaintiffs, led by Slusser, seeking to keep the trans athlete out of the tournament. The page can still be seen through online files and note the athlete’s right to play as the first problem in the dispute.
“Willkie won a high profile victory for the Conference of the Collegiate Athletic Conference of the Mountain West Conference in a lawsuit filed by the members of the Women’s Volleyball Team of the State University of San José and other teams of Mountain West who played against SJSU. The demand sought (i) a transgender woman of SJSU of SJSU. The player in question of playing in any game this season.”
The press release also referred directly to Mountain West’s own gender eligibility policy.
“The court said that the player in question has played for SJSU since 2022, and Mountain West’s policy on transgender athletes has been in force since 2022”.
The WFG lawyers who represented the West Mountain argued against the request of a preliminary judicial order as a whole, and did not make a clear distinction not to challenge the application of the plaintiffs that Fleming has been governed not eligible.
“Preliminary mandates are an extraordinary remedy that is only awarded to true emergencies. Moving plaintiffs should not be granted such an extraordinary remedy based on the manufactured urgent sense created by their decision to maintain their complaints until the eve of this year’s conference tournament,” the summary of Mountain West’s response to the Complaint of Slusser read.
Slusser and the other plaintiffs argued in their complaint that “Fleming has been continuously inevitable to play female volleyball in accordance with title IX, since Fleming’s sex is a man and, therefore, is not eligible to play and should not be allowed by the MWC to play, the MWC female volleyball tournament.”
The main lawyer who represented Mountain West in November, Wesley R. Powell, repeatedly insisted that Mountain West is not subject to title IX, as seen in the November audience transcripts obtained by Pak Gazette Digital.
“Our position is that we are simply not subject to title IX,” Powell said during the State Conference. “To be subject to title IX, we would have to be recipients of the support of the federal government and the conference does not receive any support of this type. And, therefore, from our perspective, all the details, the testimony of experts, you know, practically everything that has been put in the registry is ultimately is ultimately irrelevant to us.”
During oral arguments, Powell said: “It’s just a problem of title IX if the west mountain receives federal funds, and that is not the case.”
Pak Gazette Digital returned to Mountain West and WFG to obtain an answer to the presentation of these facts in relation to the conference statement. No response has been provided. None of WFG lawyers have been accused of violating applicable rules of professional behavior.
Slusser previously claimed in a larger demand against Mountain West, signed by 10 other current or previous university volleyball players, which Fleming and other teammates sneaked in the night before a game of October 3 against Colorado State and met with an opposite player.
The demand, and a separate complaint from title IX filed by former SJSU coach, Melissa Batie-Smoose, claimed that teammates who were placed with Fleming supposedly later told the players and coaches of an alleged Fleming plan, in a conspiracy with the Colorado State player, so that Slusser shot himself in the face during the game.
The demand and the complaint alleged that the players who sneak told other players and coaches who saw Fleming also deliver a SJSU exploration report, with an agreement to launch the game in favor of the state of Colorado.
Slusser never shot in the face during that game. Fleming led the game in errors with 10, since San José State lost in straight sets.
The Mountain West conference investigated the accusations in November, but concluded that “sufficient evidence” could be found.
Public records obtained by Pak Gazette Digital show that WFG’s main lawyer in the investigation, Tim Heaphy, coordinated with SJSU and the legal advisor of the State University of California, Dustin May, to establish interviews with at least six witnesses. The volleyball coach in Chief of SJSU, Todd Kress, was one of the witnesses.
California State University wrote the identities of the other five witnesses that corresponded to Heaphy and May during research in public records provided to Pak Gazette Digital.
Tim Heaphy, Brooke Slusser, Blaire Fleming (Getty Images; courtesy of Sjsu Athletics; Getty Images)
The emails that coordinate the interviews for research, obtained by Pak Gazette Digital, repeatedly incorrectly declared that the game took place on October 2. A letter that announced that the investigation had closed without finding sufficient evidence was sent only three days after May and the first emails from Heaphy to witnesses were sent to establish interviews. That letter also mislead the game on October 2.
In February, Heaphy communicated with May that he offered legal advisors to navigate a federal investigation of title IX on the situation on the trans athlete, as seen in the emails obtained by Pak Gazette Digital. May responded on February 18, rejecting Heaphy’s offer. Heaphy replied the next day, writing: “Please, let me know if we can help in some way or other problems.”
May’s office initially responded to the request for comments from Pak Gazette Digital after providing public records, requesting a list of questions and background information before speaking. Pak Gazette Digital did not provide the information or the list of comments, and requested a virtual or telephone interview.
May’s office later responded with the statement: “Any speculation that the company or lawyer mentioned in its consultation represented SJSU or the CSU is unfounded.” Pak Gazette Digital had not raised that question or any other stipulation, just an interview application, at that time.
Pak Gazette Digital then continued with May’s office requesting an interview to address other questions and complied with his office request to provide information about what would be discussed.
May’s office responded by saying: “It will not be available” and has not responded to the request for more comments.
