New York Judge Lets Transgender Runner's Lawsuit Against University Proceed but Rejects Two Other Claims

A New York state judge ruled Thursday that the state’s human rights law banning discrimination based on gender identity supersedes President Trump’s Executive Order 14201 on female sports. Judge Richard McNally rejected Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Sadie Schreiner after the university barred the 22-year-old athlete from the women’s 200-meter and 400-meter races at its April 2025 Under the Lights Meet.

” He dismissed the university’s Title IX defense, noting that Rensselaer “merely gives lip service to its argument that Title IX categorically bans all transgender women from competing in women’s sports” without citing specific Department of Education regulations.

The judge rejected Schreiner’s claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress and violation of the state’s public-accommodation law. The case will proceed on the claim that the university violated the New York State Human Rights Law. ” The university had cited the February 5, 2025 executive order and the Department of Education’s enforcement plans when it excluded Schreiner from the meet.

Schreiner, who competed as a men’s varsity sprinter in high school, later broke women’s records at Rochester Institute of Technology and earned All-American honors after transitioning as a college freshman. Schreiner placed third in the 200-meter at the 2024 NCAA Division III national championships before the NCAA changed its eligibility rules.

Schreiner has since competed outside NCAA events, winning the 400-meter at the 2025 USA Track and Field Open Masters Championships in New York, and has filed separate suits against the NCAA, the State University of New York at Geneseo, and Princeton University over access to women’s meets.