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EXCLUSIVE: A famed attorney who represents female athletes, including Simone Biles, in abuse cases, is the latest critic taking aim at San Jose State University (SJSU) and the California State University (CSU) system for its ongoing volleyball scandal.
The attorney, John Manly, is coming forward after Fox News Digital reported that SJSU was informed of graphic assault allegations against current volleyball coach Todd Kress during the 2024 season, while the university was already under a Title IX microscope for a national controversy involving a trans athlete on the volleyball team.
“This is not about trans rights… and frankly, the trans piece of this is a smokescreen for the university justifying its abominable treatment and protection of female students in the last 20 years,” Manly told Fox News Digital.
“What’s happened here, and I can tell you I believe that’s happened at San Jose State, is that the whole Title IX process has been bastardized. Instead of a process where it was supposed to be about protecting students and athletes, it’s really been about avoiding liability for the university…
“The school needs a wake-up call, and frankly, new leadership.”
INSIDE THE FALLOUT OF THE SJSU VOLLEYBALL SCANDAL: ‘THIS IS AN OBVIOUS PROBLEM’
Manly served as the chief legal counsel from 2017-21 for Biles and the other women who were sexually abused by Larry Nassar, helping the victims reach a $380 million settlement. He also previously represented SJSU female athletes in a separate case of sexual abuse by a trainer as far back as 2009 to 2020.
The lawyer says he sees similarities in the culture behind SJSU’s handling of its volleyball situation, and the cultures behind the issues in two other cases.
“As to the culture, yes,” Manly said of the similarities to other cases he’s handled. “I mean, there was a culture at Michigan State where the Larry Nassar case was, and I was the lead counsel on that, where this was just acceptable and ignored because it benefited the university… Same thing with the trainer at San Jose State who was convicted of federal civil rights charges.
“When you have a culture that doesn’t value students and frankly treats them as funding devices, when it doesn’t value athletes and frankly treats them as funding devices, and to benefit the university’s, quote, ‘brand,’ this is what happens.”
SJSU previously settled with the U.S. Department of Justice in September 2021 for $1.6 million to be distributed to 13 female student-athletes.
The investigation found that the school’s former head trainer, Scott Shaw, subjected athletes to unwelcome sexual touching under the guise of medical treatment, and that the university ignored complaints for more than a decade. Manly served as legal counsel for those SJSU victims as well.
Then at the end of January this year, the U.S. Department of Education determined the school violated Title IX again in its handling of the volleyball team. But in March, SJSU and CSU sued the federal government to challenge the investigation and its findings.
SJSU and CSU are meanwhile being sued by 11 female players across the Mountain West, including former SJSU co-captain Brooke Slusser, over their experience with the trans athlete. Slusser has since said that she and her other former teammates at SJSU were never allegedly informed of the allegations against Kress after they were sent to the school in October 2024.
Manly hopes the new developments and SJSU’s history will have an impact in the courtroom on all legal fronts related to the scandal.
“I would hope that the courts would look at this as a culture and say, ‘Something’s wrong here.’ I mean, you look at the coach, you look at the trainer, you look at the other issues at the school with culture, and they need to protect kids. And I hope that the end result of that case is that happens, cause it’s certainly not happening now,” Manly said.
Fox News Digital has filed two public records requests to SJSU seeking documents related to the allegations against Kress, but both have been rejected.
“The fact that they won’t produce the documents tells you a lot,” Manly said.
The first request sought the emails between the school and one of Kress’ former players at Fairfield University that contained a letter involving allegations that Kress attacked her in a hotel room in 1998. SJSU denied that request, citing personal privacy exemptions.
The second request sought internal communication related to the school’s own investigation of those allegations. SJSU rejected that request, also citing personal privacy exemptions, as well as attorney-client privilege.
Both responses from SJSU also stated, “Disclosure of these records would therefore constitute an invasion of privacy that outweighs the public interest in disclosure.”
As a lawyer, Manly disagrees with that response, considering the stakes.
“It’s completely bogus. There’s a whole litany of California cases that says the safety of, of others and the safety of, uh, and, you know, people essentially knowing that somebody’s dangerous outweighs that. The, if there’s a privacy interest, you simply redact the name of the victim,” Manly said.
Fox News Digital was given copies of emails exchanged between SJSU and the former Fairfield player, from an independently verified source. Fox News Digital has independently verified she played at Fairfield under Kress in the 1998 season, but is not disclosing her name.
SJSU DIDN’T PENALIZE VOLLEYBALL COACH DURING TRANS SCANDAL AMID TITLE IX COMPLAINTS, FEDERAL FINDINGS ALLEGE
The original letter was written by a woman that played for Kress at Fairfield University in the late ’90s, and sent to SJSU on Oct. 24, 2024.
That first email she sent to SJSU contained the letter with the written allegations against Kress, that was originally sent to Fairfield University. The alleged incident occurred in a hotel after Fairfield’s loss to Clemson in the first round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament in December of that year. She wrote that a teammate asked her to bring her a shirt to Kress’ room.
“I told her I wanted no part of his insanity. I was distraught about the loss and wasn’t interested in his drunken insanity, which was commonplace on trips.”
The former player added that her teammate “promised Todd would not throw water at me or do something juvenile so I reluctantly agreed to bring her the shirt.”
“I knocked on the door and Todd answered. He immediately took caramel from a plastic container and smeared it all over my face and hair. He then forcibly threw me on the bed and held me down. I was in shock. He let go of me and then pulled his pants down and put his back side in my face.
“Astonished… that is the only word I can think of to describe how I felt in that moment… Todd was drunk. I got up and went for the door.
“Todd again grabbed me, picked me up, and threw me into the bathtub where he held me down and threatened to turn on the shower with me laying there to ‘clean the caramel off of my face.’ At this point I was fighting back to get away from him.
“Todd let me get out of the tub, laughing, and then he stood in front of the door blocking my exit. Todd told me he would only let me leave if I took a shot of liquor, which I did only to get him to move away from the door. Once he did, I ran for it. He chased me. I got into my room and although he seemed to be in a rage, he turned and calmly walked out,” the letter alleged.
SJSU Athletic Director Jeff Konya responded to the former Fairfield player in an email on the same day the letter was sent.
“I want to acknowledge that I am in receipt of your correspondence and will share it with the proper authorities on the SJSU campus for additional review,” Konya wrote.
More than a week later, on Nov. 4, former SJSU interim Title IX and Gender Equity Officer Peter Lim reached out to set up a meeting with the former player and her attorney.
“Thank you for sharing your concerns about Coach Todd Kress. I am sorry to hear about your experiences. I have reviewed your letter and would like to meet with you to better understand your experiences with Coach Kress. The purpose of the meeting would be to help me assess potential next steps, which may or may not include an investigation into the reported conduct,” Lim wrote.
Three days after that, on Nov. 7, Lim sent another email to the former Fairfield player, thanking her and her attorney for meeting with them.
“I am so sorry about your prior experiences with Todd Kress at Fairfield University. I appreciate the time you took to describe those experiences, the impact those experiences continue to have on you, and the safety threat that you believe he presents to SJSU’s volleyball team,” Lim wrote.
“We are evaluating the information you provided and determining appropriate next steps. If it is okay with the two of you, I would appreciate staying in touch.”
There was no further correspondence between the two parties after that exchange, Fox News Digital has learned.
Manly said the lack of visible follow-up reflects what he believes is a broader flaw in how universities handle allegations that could expose them to liability.
“These complaints end up at the general counsel’s office and die. And the reason for that is very simple. Lawyers rarely find their own clients guilty,” Manly said.
“The message it sends is, ‘We’re going to keep the coach because he wins, and we don’t want to look bad.’ 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.”
Manly hopes to see the legislature, either state or federal, issue subpoenas for what has transpired.
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“The legislature could subpoena these people, and they should,” he said.
“I would hope that the board members of the Cal State University system who are appointed by the governor, the Senate and the Assembly would really focus on this and hold a hearing on it and say, ‘How did we end up hiring this guy?’”
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