John Manly, an attorney who represented victims in the Larry Nassar case, has criticized San Jose State University (SJSU) and the California State University system, alleging a pattern of prioritizing institutional liability over the safety of female athletes. Manly's comments come amid a volleyball scandal involving allegations against current coach Todd Kress and a previous Title IX controversy concerning a transgender athlete on the team.
Manly, who served as lead counsel for Simone Biles and other victims of former Michigan State University doctor Larry Nassar, stated that the Title IX process at SJSU appears to have been 'bastardized' to protect the university rather than its students. He is also representing female athletes in a separate case involving sexual abuse by a trainer at SJSU between 2009 and 2020.
"The school needs a wake-up call, and frankly, new leadership," Manly told Fox News Digital, drawing parallels between the current situation and previous cases where a culture of ignoring issues that benefited the university prevailed.
SJSU has faced scrutiny for its handling of athlete welfare. In September 2021, the university settled with the U.S. Department of Justice for $1.6 million. This settlement was for 13 female student-athletes who experienced sexual abuse by former head trainer Scott Shaw, whom Manly also represented victims against. The investigation found that SJSU had ignored complaints for over a decade.
More recently, in January, the U.S. Department of Education determined that SJSU violated Title IX in its handling of the volleyball team. However, the university and the CSU system subsequently sued the federal government in March to challenge these findings.
The current controversy involves allegations of assault against volleyball coach Todd Kress. Fox News Digital reported that SJSU was informed of these allegations during the 2024 season. Additionally, 11 female players are suing SJSU and CSU over their experiences with a transgender athlete on the volleyball team. Former SJSU co-captain Brooke Slusser has stated that she and her former teammates were not informed of the allegations against Kress when they were sent to the school in October 2024.
Manly expressed hope that the courts would recognize a systemic cultural issue at SJSU, pointing to the coach, the trainer, and other past incidents as evidence of a need for better protection for student-athletes.
SJSU has reportedly rejected public records requests from Fox News Digital seeking documents related to the allegations against Kress. One request for emails between the school and a former player from Fairfield University, containing allegations against Kress from 1998, was denied due to personal privacy exemptions. Another request for internal communications regarding the school's investigation into those allegations was also rejected, citing privacy and attorney-client privilege.
Manly contested these denials, arguing that the safety of others outweighs privacy interests, especially when names can be redacted. He believes that complaints often get buried within general counsel's offices, as lawyers are reluctant to find their own clients guilty.
"The message it sends is, ‘We’re going to keep the coach because he wins, and we don’t want to look bad,’" Manly said. "That’s not the way it’s supposed to work... This isn’t just about a trans athlete. This is about, in my view, a problematic culture at San Jose State that allowed this to occur. This is not the only group of women who’ve been mistreated and not listened to. It’s a litany of them."
He suggested that state or federal legislatures should issue subpoenas to investigate the matter further and called for the CSU system's board members to hold a hearing on how individuals like Kress are hired.