Swarthmore College and the NCAA are being sued by long-distance runner Evie Parts, who is claiming she was illegally removed from the track team for being a transgender athlete, reports CBS News Philadelphia.
Parts was removed from Swarthmore’s team on Feb. 6 after the NCAA issued a new policy banning transgender athletes in women’s sports.
Swarthmore “fully reinstated” her on April 11. She competed on the women’s team until graduating in May. Parts won the 10,000 meters in April at the Bill Butler Invitational.
Parts’ lawsuit said the NCAA’s policy had no legal foundation because the NCAA is not a governmental organization and has no jurisdiction over Pennsylvania state law or the Title IX federal statute.
Also named in the suit are Swarthmore men’s and women’s track coach Peter Carroll, athletic director Brad Koch and athletics officials Christina Epps-Chiazor and Valerie Gomez.
The lawsuit stated that Parts went into “such a depressive state that she engaged in self-harm and in one moment told a friend that she wanted to kill herself.”
Swarthmore College did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and the NCAA had no comment.
Read more details about the NCAA transgender policy at CBS News Philadelphia.
