Transgender runner sues NCAA and Swarthmore College for track team removal

Long-distance runner Evie Parts has sued the NCAA and Swarthmore College, saying they illegally removed her from the track team because she is a transgender athlete.

Long-distance runner Evie Parts has sued the NCAA and Swarthmore College as well as members of its athletic department, saying they illegally removed her from the track team because she is a transgender athlete.

Parts' lawsuit said the NCAA's ban on transgender athletes in women's sports did not have legal grounds because it's not a governmental organization and therefore does not have jurisdiction over Pennsylvania state law or the Title IX federal statute.

She was removed from the team on Feb. 6, the day the NCAA issued its new policy on transgender athletes.

Swarthmore men's and women's track coach Peter Carroll, athletic director Brad Koch and athletics officials Christina Epps-Chiazor and Valerie Gomez also were named in the lawsuit. According to the complaint, they sent Parts into "such a depressive state that she engaged in self-harm and in one moment told a friend that she wanted to kill herself."

"We stand by the allegations in the complaint," said Susie Cirilli, an attorney who along with co-counsel Spector, Gadon, Rosen and Vinci, represents Parts. "As stated in the complaint, the NCAA is a private organization that issued a bigoted policy. Swarthmore College chose to follow that policy and disregard federal and state law."