Questions rise over UPenn’s Lia Thomas lawsuit after Title IX agreement with Trump admin

The University of Pennsylvania agreed to a resolution with President Donald Trump’s administration to keep males out of women’s sports and apologize to every woman swimmer who was affected by the presence of trans athlete Lia Thomas in the 2021-22 season. 

However, a lawsuit against the university by three former women’s swimmers over their experience in sharing a team with Thomas is still active. 

Former UPenn swimmers Grace Estabrook, Margot Kaczorowski and Ellen Holmquist filed their lawsuit against the university, Harvard University, the NCAA and the Ivy League back on Feb. 5. The suit alleges university officials led them to feel their concerns over being teammates with Thomas were rooted in a “psychological problem,” and that by allowing Thomas to compete, the institutions “injured them and violated federal law.”

The activist group funding the lawsuit, the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS), released a statement on Tuesday addressing UPenn’s resolution. 

“In less than three weeks, lawyers for the University of Pennsylvania will appear in federal district court in Boston, Massachusetts. They have informed the court that they will argue the university did not violate Title IX by allowing Lia Thomas to compete on the women’s swim team,” the statement claimed. 

“Will UPenn now admit to the federal judge—just as they did to the Trump Administration today—that they violated Title IX? Or will they continue fighting against accountability and against UPenn’s female swimmers in court?”

Meanwhile, Former UPenn swimmer Paula Scanlan, who is not part of the lawsuit but was one of the first of Thomas’ teammates to speak out against the situation, shared the email she received from the university apologizing. 

ICONS added in its statement that Tuesday’s announcement should serve as a warning to other institutions.

“We, along with the female athletes we represent, are grateful to the Trump Administration and the Department of Education for their commitment to restoring justice in women’s sports. Today’s announcement, concerning one of the most notorious violations of Title IX, sends a clear message to all educational institutions: denying women equal opportunities and the right to privacy is unequivocally wrong,” the statement continued. 

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“ICONS remains dedicated to holding organizations like the NCAA, the Ivy League, and the University of Pennsylvania accountable, ensuring that legal precedents are set so such violations can never happen again.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to UPenn for a response to the ICONS statement. 

Thomas, a biological male, previously competed for the UPenn men’s swimming team from 2017-20 under the name Will Thomas. According to the lawsuit, Thomas was introduced by women’s swimming head coach Mike Schnur to the women’s swimmers during a team meeting in Fall 2019 as their incoming teammate. 

Each of the three plaintiffs claims the experience left them “repeatedly emotionally traumatized.”

The plaintiffs allege that the university administrators pushed pro-trans ideology onto them throughout the process of accepting Thomas on the team and in their locker room. The former swimmers say that they were led to feel their concerns over being teammates with Thomas were rooted in a “psychological problem.”

“The UPenn administrators told the women that if anyone was struggling with accepting Thomas’s participation on the UPenn Women’s team, they should seek counseling and support from CAPS and the LBGTQ center,” the lawsuit alleges.

“The administrators also invited the women to a talk titled, ‘Trans 101.’ Thus, the women were led to understand that UPenn’s position was that if a woman on the team had any problem with a trans-identifying male being on her team that woman had a psychological problem and needed counseling.”

The plaintiffs also allege that the administrators warned them against speaking out against the situation publicly.

“The UPenn administrators went on to tell the women that if the women spoke publicly about their concerns about Thomas’ participation on the Women’s Team, the reputation of those complaining about Thomas being on the team would be tainted with transphobia for the rest of their lives and they would probably never be able to get a job,’” the lawsuit alleges.

The three female swimmers allege that they were made to believe they would be removed from the team if they tried to protest Thomas’ participation ahead of the 2022 Ivy League championships. 

“UPenn swim team members were told by Coach Schnur and UPenn administrators that UPenn administrators coordinated closely with the NCAA and the Ivy League to ensure that Thomas would be eligible for the 2021-2022 women’s swimming season,” the suit alleged.

“These statements about close coordination between UPenn, the Ivy League and the NCAA regarding Thomas’ eligibility led the UPenn Women’s Team members to understand the resisting or protesting the participation of Thomas on the team or his presence in the locker room would be futile and could result in the women being removed from the team or from UPenn.”

The lawsuit alleges that coaches and UPenn administrators told the women’s swimmers not to talk about Thomas’ situation. Schnur allegedly told the women’s swimmers that Thomas wouldn’t be sharing a locker room with them when they asked after the initial introduction. 

But that allegedly changed later.

Thomas officially began to practice and compete with the women’s swimmers in Fall 2021. 

And that was when the female swimmers say they discovered that Schnur’s alleged claim Thomas wouldn’t share a locker room was not true. 

“When UPenn’s women’s swimmers returned to school in the fall of 2021 they were shocked to discover that Thomas was being allowed to use the women’s locker room at UPenn and would be allowed to use the women’s locker room at swim meets,” the lawsuit alleges.

“Margot [Kaczorowski] only learned that Thomas had been authorized by UPenn to use the women’s locker room when [Kaczorowski] walked in the women’s locker room to find Thomas in front of her changing his clothing.”

Per the suit, Kaczorowski confronted Schnur in tears about her shock of discovering Thomas would now share a locker room with her. She alleges the coach responded by saying, “I know it’s wrong, but there’s nothing I can do.”

“Coach Schnur told the Plaintiffs he would be fired by UPenn if he did not allow Thomas to use the women’s locker room and compete on the women’s swim team,” the lawsuit alleges. 

In December 2021, another team meeting was held to discuss Thomas’ presence on the team and the media attention it garnered, per the court documents. The female swimmers allege they were told that Thomas would continue to be on their team and that “Lia swimming is a non-negotiable.”

UPenn addressed the resolution with Trump’s administration in a statement on Tuesday. 

“The Department of Education OCR investigated the participation of one transgender athlete on the women’s swimming team three years ago, during the 2021 – 2022 swim season. At that time, Penn was in compliance with NCAA eligibility rules and Title IX as then interpreted,” the statement read. 

“Penn has always followed – and continues to follow – Title IX and the applicable policy of the NCAA regarding transgender athletes. NCAA eligibility rules changed in February 2025 with Executive Orders 14168 and 14201 and Penn will continue to adhere to these new rules.

“Penn has never maintained a policy of its own regarding the participation of transgender athletes in intercollegiate sports. Nor do we maintain our own policies related to other NCAA rules. We adhere to NCAA and Ivy League rules that are designed to ensure fair and transparent athletic competitions for all schools and participants.”

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