San Jose State University has refused to disclose emails and other records related to an investigation into graphic allegations against volleyball coach Todd Kress, citing privacy exemptions and attorney-client privilege. The university's decision comes after Fox News Digital submitted a public records request seeking communications about a complaint from a former player who alleges Kress assaulted her in 1998, when he coached at Fairfield University.
The university's attorney, Laurette Hanna, responded to the request by stating that a reasonable search had been conducted but that the records were not disclosable under California's Public Records Act. The response cited exemptions including attorney-client privilege, personnel records privacy, and a balancing test that determined the public interest in disclosure was outweighed by privacy concerns. The decision was made by J. Leah Castella, according to the university's response.
The allegations against Kress were first reported by Fox News Digital last week, based on a letter sent to San Jose State on October 24, 2024, while the volleyball team was in the midst of a season overshadowed by national controversy over the presence of a transgender athlete on the roster. The letter, written by a woman who played for Kress at Fairfield University in the late 1990s, describes an incident that allegedly occurred in a hotel room after Fairfield's loss to Clemson in the first round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament.
In the letter, the former player alleges that Kress, after she reluctantly entered his room to deliver a shirt to a teammate, smeared caramel on her face and hair, forcibly threw her onto a bed, pulled down his pants, and put his backside in her face. She further alleges that he then picked her up, threw her into a bathtub, held her down, and threatened to turn on the shower to clean the caramel off her face. The woman wrote that she was in shock and that Kress was drunk during the incident. She also stated that her teammate had promised Kress would not engage in what she described as his typical drunken behavior.
Fox News Digital had specifically requested emails sent or received by former San Jose State interim Title IX and Gender Equity Officer Peter Lim regarding the complaint and any subsequent investigation. The university has not issued any public statement addressing the allegations, and Fox News Digital has not received responses to follow-up questions asking why the university believes privacy concerns outweigh the public interest, given that Kress continues to oversee multiple rosters of young women and actively recruits high school athletes.
The former player, whose name has not been disclosed, sent the letter to San Jose State on October 24, 2024, after originally sending it to Fairfield University. Fox News Digital independently verified that she played for Kress at Fairfield during the 1998 season. The allegations come at a time when the San Jose State volleyball program has been at the center of a national debate over transgender athletes in women's sports, with multiple teams forfeiting matches against the Spartans during the 2024 season.
The university's refusal to release records has drawn scrutiny, as it leaves unanswered questions about how the institution handled the complaint while Kress remained in his position. The allegations, which date back more than two decades, have not been addressed publicly by San Jose State, Kress, or the university's athletic department. Fox News Digital has reached out to Kress, Lim, Hanna, and Castella for comment but has not received a response.
The case highlights ongoing tensions around transparency in university handling of misconduct allegations, particularly when they involve coaches who continue to work with young athletes. The California Public Records Act generally favors disclosure, but exemptions for privacy and attorney-client privilege can limit access to certain documents. The university's decision to withhold the records means that the full scope of the investigation and the university's response remains unknown to the public.
