Teenage volleyball player sues school district over male opponent

A teen volleyball player and her father sued a Michigan school district for allowing a male to play against her and share locker room facilities, the Thomas More Law Center told WORLD Monday. Briley Lechner, age 16, and her father filed the federal civil rights lawsuit on Friday. They named the Monroe Public Schools school district, the Michigan High School Athletic Association, and several school officials as defendants. Lechner’s team argues she was subjected to sex-based discrimination, breaching federal Title IX protections as well as the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, according to the law center.

The state athletic association told WORLD it had not received any notification of the lawsuit. Monroe Public Schools told WORLD it was aware of the lawsuit. It remained committed to following state and federal regulations while upholding student safety, it said.

The case stemmed from a September 2025 match between Lechner’s high school girls’ volleyball team at Monroe and a team from another school that included a male player. He identified as a transgender female, according to the Thomas More Law Center. He was also granted access to the same locker room facilities as the Monroe girls’ team. Lechner’s case argues officials knew beforehand that a male would be participating in the match and using girls’ private facilities, but concealed that fact from players and their parents.

When confronted, officials tried to justify their actions and rejected Lechner’s formal discrimination complaint under the landmark federal law, according to the Thomas More Law Center. The school district’s board of directors decided in a private discussion that Lechner’s claims of discrimination were unsubstantiated—even though its procedures required an open vote, according to the law center.

Dig deeper: Read Daisy Sachoff’s report on a teen wrestler’s Supreme Court plea over a match against a male.