Sadie Schreiner, a transgender woman and a track athlete at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), is suing Princeton University, alleging that officials illegally discriminated against her when she was removed from a May track meet.
In a civil complaint filed on July 15, Schreiner claimed that she qualified and reported for the 200m race at the Larry Ellis Invitational held at Princeton. Schreiner competed as an "unattached" athlete without affiliation to a specific college or club. She had previously been barred from competing for RIT under NCAA rules after a Trump administration executive order to ban transgender woman from women’s sports.
After checking in at the scorer’s table, Schreiner discovered her name was not listed on the official heat list. In the starting line area, she met Director of Athletics John Mack ’00 and Director of Track Operations Kimberly Keenan-Kirkpatrick, where Schreiner claims she was told “I do not want to assume, but you are transgender.”
In a response filed in late August, the University denied that Keenan-Kirpatrick or Mack had made the comment. Schreiner’s complaint did not specify the origin of the comment.
Mack, Keenan-Kirkpatrick, and race computing company Leone Timing and Results Services are listed as defendants in the lawsuit, along with the University.
Schreiner is seeking a trial by jury, a court declaration that the defendants unlawfully discriminated against her, and unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
Her attorney, Susan Cirilli, who bills herself as having “a strong passion for supporting women’s sports,” filed the complaint under a New Jersey law which states that places of “public accommodation” may not discriminate based on gender identity.
“As stated in the complaint, each of the defendants were aware that Sadie was a transgender woman and knowingly and maliciously discriminated against her on the basis of her gender identity and expression,” Cirilli said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian.
In its response, the University acknowledged that Schreiner was registered for the 200m race as an unattached athlete and that her name was originally listed among the runners competing in the event.
However, the University broadly denied in its response that Schreiner had experienced discrimination at the meet.
“Princeton follows NCAA rules and policies for determining who is eligible for varsity athletic events, which is what we did in this case,” University spokesperson Jennifer Morrill said in a statement to the ‘Prince.’
NCAA regulations regarding transgender athletes were updated in February, a day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to bar transgender female athletes from participating in competition.
The NCAA rule now states that a “student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team.” Where the regulation conflicts with law, the NCAA says that universities should abide by local, state, and federal legislation, which supersede its regulations.
Cirilli is also representing transgender runner Evie Parts in a similar case.
The University is also requesting that a second attorney, Seema Rambaran, be added to its legal representation. Rambaran typically represents higher education institutions in disputes related to non-discrimination laws like Title VII and Title IX.
The motion to add Rambaran will be heard on Sept. 26.
Maya Mukherjee is a staff News writer and head Podcast editor for the 'Prince.' She is from New York City.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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