Sixteen Female Athletes (Representing a Class) Sue NCAA Over Policy Allowing Male Athletes to Compete as Women

March 18, 2024

By now, many readers probably know that last Thursday, sixteen female athletes (representing a class of female athletes) sued the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Georgia Tech (as well as several individual defendants) for discrimination under Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Georgia Tech hosted the 2022 NCAA swimming championships where Lia (Will) Thomas, a male swimmer who was not competitive on the men’s team, was permitted to compete in the women’s category and use the women’s locker room. Thomas went on to win the women’s 500-yard freestyle competition and to strip naked in front of naked women in the locker room.

The complaint is available here. 

The NCAA responded:

College sports are the premier stage for women’s sports in America, and while the NCAA does not comment on pending litigation, the Association and its members will continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in women’s sports and ensure fair competition in all NCAA championships.

The lawsuit is being funded and spearheaded by the group Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) and the athletes are represented by Bill Bock, a former US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) General Counsel who resigned from the NCAA Committee on Infractions earlier this year over its regulation permitting men to compete in women’s athletics.

There are a lot of great things to say about the complaint and I’ll describe a few of them here.

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