ENMU Basketball Players' Sexual Assault Lawsuit Revived by 10th Circuit
Three former ENMU women's basketball players allege their coach's husband repeatedly assaulted them during forced "treatment" sessions. The 10th Circuit has reinstated their Title IX case.
10th Circuit Revives Title IX Suit Against Eastern New Mexico University
Three former women's basketball players at Eastern New Mexico University will have another chance to pursue their sexual assault claims against the school, after the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling in their favor. Courthouse News Service reports that a three-judge panel on Tuesday reinstated the Title IX lawsuit, finding the university and its athletic director may bear direct liability for failing to act on repeated warnings.
The plaintiffs — then-freshmen on the ENMU roster — allege that head coach Meghan de los Reyes compelled them to receive physical therapy "treatments" from her husband, Glen de los Reyes, a self-described "biomechanics specialist" and owner of Glen's Fitness Lab. They say those sessions, held between January and October 2022, involved repeated unwanted touching of their genitals and breasts despite their protests.
Coach Hired in 2021, Assaults Began Shortly After
ENMU hired Meghan de los Reyes as head women's basketball coach in July 2021. Her husband initially provided therapy sessions to athletes on campus. In January 2022, head athletic trainer Danielle Torossi raised liability concerns, and the on-campus sessions ended. Meghan de los Reyes then required players to travel to her private residence for sessions with Glen.
Players who refused, the plaintiffs allege, faced retaliation in the form of reduced playing time. On one occasion, a plaintiff says Meghan de los Reyes withheld her car keys until she agreed to submit to a session, during which Glen de los Reyes forced her onto her back and rubbed his genitals against her.
Beginning in August 2022, three freshman players say they and others were directed to go "one-by-one" into a private room with Glen de los Reyes before leaving mandatory team dinners at the couple's home. The treatment sessions, they say, followed a consistent pattern of sexual contact.
Athletic Director Warned, Took No Action
In spring 2022, Torossi reported the sexual assault of a female athlete to Athletic Director Paul Weir. According to the plaintiffs, Weir did not believe the account and took no action.
After the three plaintiffs formally reported the assaults in October 2022, Weir met with Glen de los Reyes. The biomechanics specialist reportedly explained that the touching was a method for identifying "sensory imbalances" in the body — an explanation that Weir apparently accepted. In that same meeting, Weir offered to make Glen de los Reyes an official volunteer, ostensibly out of continued concern over liability. Glen declined the offer, yet continued treating student-athletes.
Court documents also reveal that Glen de los Reyes told Weir he had recorded video of each session without the athletes' consent, stating it was to "avoid later claims of misconduct." Whether anyone at the university reviewed that footage is unclear from the record.
Glen de los Reyes was not criminally trespassed from campus until February 2023 — more than four months after the October meeting with Weir.
Lower Court Had Dismissed the Case
Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory B. Wormuth granted summary judgment in favor of ENMU and Weir in a March 2025 order, accepting the university's argument that because Glen de los Reyes was not a school employee, the institution had no authority to discipline him and therefore could not be held liable under Title IX.
The 10th Circuit disagreed. Senior U.S. Circuit Judge David M. Ebel, a Ronald Reagan appointee, wrote in a 25-page opinion that the school's argument reflected an overly narrow reading of the law.
"Schools cannot be held vicariously liable for the misconduct of their agents, but a school may be directly liable for its deliberate indifference to known misconduct," Ebel wrote.
Court Finds ENMU Had Practical Means to Act
The appeals panel identified several concrete steps Weir could have taken, none of which required formal employment authority over Glen de los Reyes. Weir could have instructed coaches not to refer or transport players to Glen, banned him from campus — which the university ultimately did months after the first allegations — or directed athletes not to have contact with him or visit his home.
"AD Weir also could have told Coach Meghan not to hold mandatory team dinners at the de los Reyes home anymore," Ebel wrote. "And, of course, AD Weir had the power to discipline Coach Meghan."
The panel rejected the university's formal-status argument directly: "Though AD Weir offered Glen the opportunity to become a formal volunteer, Glen declined this offer, and yet he continued to treat student-athletes. Had Glen signed the form AD Weir sent him and became a formal volunteer, then ENMU would have had the requisite control over him."
Ebel concluded that ENMU's inaction was itself the basis for potential liability. "ENMU's indifference to the danger its student-athletes were being exposed to does not demonstrate ENMU's lack of control over Glen. Instead, it is this very deliberate indifference that could itself subject ENMU to liability."
One plaintiff reported the assaults to her career counselor in October 2022, which ultimately prompted a formal investigation. Neither ENMU nor any other party had responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
Source: Courthouse News Service