Briley Lechner
ANN ARBOR, MI — The Thomas More Law Center (“TMLC”), a national nonprofit public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on Friday (10/09), against Michigan’s Monroe Public Schools District, the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA), and the District’s Superintendent and Athletic Director, on behalf of 16-year-old tenth grader Briley Lechner and her father, Sean Lechner. Briley has been on Monroe High School’s Varsity girls’ volleyball team since ninth grade.
The lawsuit alleges that school officials knowingly concealed from the Monroe High School girls’ volleyball team and their parents that the September 9, 2025, match with Ann Arbor’s Skyline High School would involve a biological male (transgender female).
Briley commented, “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’s 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.”
The Complaint further alleges that school officials attempted to justify their conduct, rejected the Plaintiffs’ formal Title IX discrimination complaint, and then deprived plaintiffs of a meaningful administrative appeal.
Although Briley was disheartened by the manner in which her local District Board Members treated her claims, she received glowing support from high-profile national figures like Riley Gaines, the prominent collegiate swimmer who gained attention when she campaigned against biological men in women’s sports, and Kim Jones, co-founder of the National Independent Council of Women Sports (ICONS). Briley was also presented the “Courageous Voice Award” by U.S. Congressman Tim Walberg “for speaking up for female athletes.”
Briley Lechner and Riley Gaines
“This lawsuit is about much more than a single volleyball game,” said Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center. “It’s about whether public school officials can, with deliberative indifference, knowingly sacrifice the rights of female athletes to accommodate a biological male athlete, conceal that decision from the girls and their parents, and then evade accountability under federal law and the U.S. Constitution.”
School Officials Allegedly Knew but Kept Girls and Parents in the Dark
According to the federal Complaint, on September 9, 2025, Monroe High School’s girls’ volleyball team competed against Ann Arbor Skyline High School, which included a biological male (transgender female).
Monroe’s Athletic Director, Chet Hesson, and school coaching personnel knew about the opposing player’s biological sex a day before the competition but did not disclose that fact to Monroe’s female athletes or their parents.
The Complaint further alleges that without informing Monroe’s athletes, the biological male was permitted to use intimate locker room facilities designated for Monroe’s female athletes.
The lawsuit challenges the District’s administration of its girls’ athletic program under Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
“Title IX was enacted to protect girls and women from sex discrimination in education,” Thompson stated. “It was not enacted to allow school officials to disregard the very distinctions that make equal athletic opportunities for girls possible.”
Plaintiffs’ Complaint Rejected as “Unsubstantiated”
The resulting determination by Superintendent Shaw and the Monroe District Board of Directors characterized the allegations as “unsubstantiated.”
The Complaint challenges both the District’s response and the constitutionality of the procedures employed in reaching that determination.
According to the Complaint, critical portions of the investigation, including witness identities and their statements, were withheld from plaintiffs, impairing their ability to meaningfully challenge the District’s conclusions.
The Monroe Board of Education Refused to Decide the Appeal
The lawsuit also challenges the conduct of the Monroe Public Schools Board of Education.
Under the District’s established procedures, the Board was responsible for considering the plaintiffs’ appeal of the Superintendent’s determination and vote on it at open session.
Instead, according to the Complaint, Board members discussed the matter in closed session and subsequently adjourned without publicly deciding the merits of the appeal.
The District thereafter claimed the Superintendent’s determination of “unsubstantiated” was affirmed by the Board because no one voted on it.
“The Board of Education was supposed to provide an independent review of the plaintiffs’ complaint,” Thompson said. “Instead, the plaintiffs’ appeal was subjected to a parliamentary maneuver in which the Board refused to decide the very issues it was responsible for reviewing and deciding. A right to appeal means little if the officials responsible for deciding the appeal simply refuse to act.”
The Thomas More Law Center, a national nonprofit public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor Michigan, is committed to upholding American values rooted in Judeo-Christian heritage protecting free speech and religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and a free and independent United States. It does not charge for its services. You may reach the Thomas More Law Center at (734) 827-2001 or visit our website at www.thomasmore.org.
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