16-year-old Michigan volleyball player files Title IX lawsuit over male opponent
Caroline MolloyA 16-year-old Michigan volleyball player and her father filed a federal lawsuit Oct. 9 alleging school officials violated her rights by knowingly allowing her to compete against a male athlete and allowing him to use the girls’ locker room facilities without the girl’s or her parents’ knowledge.
The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC) filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on behalf of 10th-grader Briley Lechner and her father, Sean Lechner, against Monroe Public Schools District, the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA), Superintendent Andrew Shaw, and Athletic Director Chet Hesson.
The complaint centers on a Sept. 9, 2025, varsity girls’ volleyball match at Monroe against Ann Arbor Skyline High School, according to the law center’s Oct. 12 press release. The suit alleges that Monroe’s athletic director and coaching staff knew a day before the match that Skyline’s team included a male who identifies as a “transgender” female but did not inform Monroe’s players or their parents.
According to the release, the suit also alleges that school officials allowed the male player to use girls’ locker room facilities at Monroe without the home team’s knowledge. The suit challenges the district’s handling of its girls’ athletic program under Title IX and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
“My goal is to preserve opportunities and safety for female athletes, ensuring that sports remain a space where girls can compete fairly, achieve their potential, and feel safe,” Briley said in the release.
Her father added, “Our daughters should never have to stand alone while the adults entrusted to protect them stay silent. As a father, I will not remain silent.”
