Keeping Track of Criminal Cases & SafeSport Suspensions in Skating

[Artistic Skaters]

It seems to me there is something of a disconnect when it comes to the standards used for coaches. For example, City Ballet in NYC had a dismissal of two dancers overturned this week. The misconduct incidents by the dancers had to do with improper photos (of company dancers) sent around to members of the company and organization causing complaints of harassment and hostile work environment.

However, in the cases of City Ballet, the dancers were unionized employees under contract with the company, so it's more likely their dismissal is held to a higher standard. But when it comes to skating coaches, they are being given teaching and coaching privileges and are not employees but working as independent contractors. Likewise, their PSA affiliation is not at all the same as a workers union. Yet I wonder if in some ways coaches are being accorded (consciously or not) this same higher standard despite the significant differences.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

The company dancers who had inappropriate photos of them sent around need to wonder why their union doesn’t protect them…

 

[skateboy]

Or the facts have come forward that wildly differ from Brennan's initial reporting.

Regarding Brennan, I know a lot of skating fans (especially ones who were too young or unborn during the Michelle/Tara rivalry who love Twitter, Tumblr, and Discord) think Brennan is doing God's work and anybody who criticizes her must be some sort of enabler of sexual abuse (because the world only works in extremes on the Internet), but I had my apprehensions and disappointment that Brennan was the only consistent reporter on figure skating abuse because she has a serious history of unethical or misleading reporting with tons of editorializing that really shifts and affects perceptions. I wouldn't mind her so much if there seemed to be another reporter who had better journalistic practices.

Agreed. For what it's worth, I am a huge NON-fan of Christine Brennan. I find her sensationalistic and not trustworthy.

 

[MacMadame]

Yet I wonder if in some ways coaches are being accorded (consciously or not) this same higher standard despite the significant differences.

These two situations are not comparable because of the power differential between coaches and their students (and other young people at the rink).

 

[Artistic Skaters]

I'm aware they are not directly comparable, but there are still some similarities and one area that needs more scrutiny is the use of arbitrators and how they are arriving at decisions. Unfortunately this information is not usually going to be available for SafeSport cases, but it is often available in other cases to analyze.

Aside from that, one area facing a lot of criticism that SS and federations could resolve fairly quickly is the apparent lack of consequences for failure to report. The accountability bar is pretty low when it comes to what coaches are supposed to do, so it seems like focusing on root causes could increase effectiveness in this area. For example:

• Denial. Coach claims no awareness of incident when it's reported otherwise.
• Inconsistency. Coach claims coaches A, B, and C did the same thing with no penalties.
• Knowledge. Coach claims doesn't know responsibilities and procedures. (Considering the certification requirements and info available, this one ought to be dismissed upfront as any kind of defense if used.)

It would not be difficult to tighten up the rules and procedures in some of these areas in order to apply minimum consequences. Mandatory reporting is a good deterrent to help prevent future issues at the rink. Clear expectations and consistent penalties would go a long way if the goal is for the frontline to normalize the process and accept it as part of best practices.

 

[okokok777]

If you don't feel you can answer this, I understand. But is the problem in SafeSport's decisions, i.e. the penalties not being justified by the evidence from the investigation and/or the hearings? Or are there procedural problems in the investigations that arbitrators are using as a reason to overturn SafeSport's decisions?

I'm also wondering how often arbitrators are overturning SafeSport decisions. You cited some of the cases where the decisions have been overturned, but does this happen regularly? Because if it does that's a major sign that something is not right with either the process or the outcomes.

These are great questions!

1) From the results of the arbitration hearings that I'm aware of, I think the issue tends to be: a) Procedural problems or technicalities that arbitrators cite to overturn the decisions, b) SafeSport doing a poor job to defend their decisions, even in cases where the evidence is strong and c) SafeSport being unable to defend their decisions because of the absence of key witnesses and claimants.

2) Between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020, the Center resolved 2,460 cases. Most of those cases were closed through jurisdictional closure (the Center declines jurisdiction - usually refers to allegations around physical and/or emotional abuse) and administrative closure (usually due to insufficient evidence, the claimant electing to not participate in the process, etc.)

Of the 2,460 cases, the Center came to 315 formal resolutions (basically a full investigation that results in an official decision) and 46 informal resolutions (where the respondent accepts responsibility for violating the code and the Center imposes a sanction at its discretion) during that time period.

They imposed 262 sanctions, ranging from a formal warning to permanent ineligibility. 21 of those cases were referred to Merits Arbitration, of which 11 cases had their sanctions upheld, 3 had their sanctions substantially modified, 3 had their sanctions overturned and 4 cases were ongoing as of August 2020.

In other words, of the 262 sanctions imposed, ~8% are referred to arbitration. In total, ~4.2% of all sanctions from that period were upheld in arbitration, ~2.3% were overturned or substantially modified during arbitration and ~1.5% were still in progress of being reviewed. But, when you look at the Merit Arbitrations alone, you get a very different breakdown: ~52.4% upheld, ~28.6% overturned or substantially modified and ~19% ongoing.

Basically, the issue isn't that most of the Center's decisions are being overturned in arbitration. The issue is that a significant number of cases that reach arbitration are being reduced/overturned.

(Source)

 

[MacMadame]

Basically, the issue isn't that most of the Center's decisions are being overturned in arbitration. The issue is that a significant number of cases that reach arbitration are being reduced/overturned.

How much is that to be expected? I mean not many people would go to arbitration if they had no case at all. (Some would, of course.) So wouldn't we expect that the cases that go to arbitration have some ambiguity or wiggle room that would make them over-turnable?

ETA that said, I would expect the cases where the original decision was upheld to be a bit higher, maybe 75%. What percentage of cases that go to CAS end up with the original decision being overturned?

 

[Aaron MB Fan]

Emma Tang posted in her IG stories tonight a link to a change.org petition she created demanding that SafeSport hold abusers accountable in sports.

Within the petition description, this is quoted: “SafeSport has been conducting an investigation on Dalilah and will be issuing a "notice of allegations" with the initials of all claimants by the end of the month, marking the first anniversary of the investigation.”

Sign the Petition

Demand SafeSport Hold Abusers Accountable in Sports

www.change.org

 

[MacMadame]

I signed the petition but I have to say that I don't think Safe Sport is the problem. I am pretty sure the USOC set them up to fail. They are underfunded and understaffed and that didn't happen by accident IMO.

 

[eurodance2001]

Emma Tang posted in her IG stories tonight a link to a change.org petition she created demanding that SafeSport hold abusers accountable in sports.

Within the petition description, this is quoted: “SafeSport has been conducting an investigation on Dalilah and will be issuing a "notice of allegations" with the initials of all claimants by the end of the month, marking the first anniversary of the investigation.”

Sign the Petition

Demand SafeSport Hold Abusers Accountable in Sports

www.change.org

Tarah Kayne posted the petition on her IG stories just a bit ago with the SWIPE UP listed so if there's anything to be said about Dalilah, she would probably know and DOES know.

 

[overedge]

That's quite the picture on the petition site.

I like the idea of putting a time cap on the investigations, although for that to happen, SafeSport would probably need a lot more funding to hire more investigators.

 

[BittyBug]

I applaud her initiative and conviction but I hope she's not putting herself at risk with the allegations made in her petition.

 

[wickedwitch]

That's quite the picture on the petition site.

I like the idea of putting a time cap on the investigations, although for that to happen, SafeSport would probably need a lot more funding to hire more investigators.

Yep. Time caps are useless without adequate funding.

Also, I was under the impression that it was third party arbitrators who often overturned some of SafeSport's suspensions.

SafeSport's hands are tied, both financially and legally. I genuinely don't see how a petition is going to change that. I think they need to be writing to Congress instead.

 

[platniumangel]

There are no time caps on investigating criminal cases (besides statute of limitations to convict) so I don’t see how this could be possible for Safesport. Plus, I think it would be detrimental to an investigation. It shouldn’t be “rushed” along. Coaches do get interim suspensions when the allegations against them are serious enough + enough evidence to warrant the suspension based off the information initially available.

With regards to her mentioning John Zimmerman….. he won the appeal against him. He MUST have produced evidence to defend himself from the allegations. So, though I want everyone to be safe and free of abuse…. I don’t see where people can ever prove their innocence in her eyes.

Safe sport can definitly be improved upon. However, I don’t think her suggestions will necessarily be helpful

 

[overedge]

Yep. Time caps are useless without adequate funding.

Also, I was under the impression that it was third party arbitrators who often overturned some of SafeSport's suspensions.

SafeSport's hands are tied, both financially and legally. I genuinely don't see how a petition is going to change that. I think they need to be writing to Congress instead.

I was also thinking, I'm not sure that SafeSport is taking a long time in investigations because it's deliberately slowing things down. Investigations take a lot of time to coordinate, to collect evidence, to do interviews, and so on. In theory a time cap is a good idea, but if it means that investigations are going to be rushed and not as thorough as they could be, then it might even increase the possibility that penalties get overturned by an arbitrator.

 

[okokok777]

Yep. Time caps are useless without adequate funding.

Also, I was under the impression that it was third party arbitrators who often overturned some of SafeSport's suspensions.

SafeSport's hands are tied, both financially and legally. I genuinely don't see how a petition is going to change that. I think they need to be writing to Congress instead.

You're correct - the JAMS arbitrators are responsible for upholding/modifying/overturning some of SafeSport's decisions. That was one of the first things that jumped out to me about the petition - it seemed to conflate them with the Center.

I am fully in support of the message that SafeSport needs to change & is failing to fulfill its job of protecting the sports community. Unfortunately, I believe that the desired changes outlined in the petition are well out of the Center's control.

There are no time caps on investigating criminal cases (besides statute of limitations to convict) so I don’t see how this could be possible for Safesport. Plus, I think it would be detrimental to an investigation. It shouldn’t be “rushed” along. Coaches do get interim suspensions when the allegations against them are serious enough + enough evidence to warrant the suspension based off the information initially available.

With regards to her mentioning John Zimmerman….. he won the appeal against him. He MUST have produced evidence to defend himself from the allegations. So, though I want everyone to be safe and free of abuse…. I don’t see where people can ever prove their innocence in her eyes.

Safe sport can definitly be improved upon. However, I don’t think her suggestions will necessarily be helpful

I was also thinking, I'm not sure that SafeSport is taking a long time in investigations because it's deliberately slowing things down. Investigations take a lot of time to coordinate, to collect evidence, to do interviews, and so on. In theory a time cap is a good idea, but if it means that investigations are going to be rushed and not as thorough as they could be, then it might even increase the possibility that penalties get overturned by an arbitrator.

I agree with both of you. I don't even think the Center can legally implement time caps - let alone follow them considering how understaffed and underfunded they are.

Quick note @platniumangel - while Zimmerman winning his appeal means that he successfully argued against the sanction, it doesn't necessarily mean that he defended himself against the allegations. It could've been a result of him/his attorney arguing that the sanction was too harsh in comparison to past decisions, revoked on a technicality, due to the claimant(s) not showing up to the hearing, etc. Once again, I haven't spoken to the involved parties about the appeal process so I don't know what arguments he made. I just wanted to state that there are a lot of possibilities.

A time cap, especially one as short as six months, would prompt the investigators to either prematurely close more complicated cases or rush to completion & make even more mistakes. Either way, I think the result would be even worse than what we have now (and that's saying something!)

Certain things that I would love to see is:

- An inspection of how overloaded the Center really is, such as the average caseload per investigator, average length of investigations throughout the Center's existence, main reasons for investigations that have lasted 18+ months, etc. Use that info to determine how much additional funding the Center needs to run effectively

- An re-examination of the SafeSport arbitrator training

- A breakdown of reasons for Merit Hearings decisions. How many were upheld? How many were overturned or modified due to lack of evidence? Errors made in the investigation? Legal loopholes and technicalities? Absence of key witnesses and claimants? What I would really love is if they released some type of brief summary of each hearing but I doubt that would happen due to privacy concerns.

 

[overedge]

@okokok777 not to overload you with questions, but what's your take on having a publicly available record of penalties that were implemented but later modified (reduced or changed) or overturned?

Some of the recent cases have involved allegations that were serious enough to justify a temporary suspension, but the suspension was overturned on appeal. I totally support procedural fairness, but OTOH there may be parents and/or skaters who would not want to work with a coach with that history.

In some proceedings like this, in other contexts, a record like that is accessible for a certain amount of time, and if there's no further allegations filed during that time, then the public record is removed. Would something like that be feasible here?

 

[Aaron MB Fan]

I applaud her initiative and conviction but I hope she's not putting herself at risk with the allegations made in her petition.

Emma mentioned in her IG stories after posting about the petition that she expected to hear from Dalilah’s attorneys. She also mentioned in the past that she has been contacted by Dalilah’s legal team on multiple occasions.

 

[BittyBug]

I'm not surprised. If the statement is factually correct, there's no case, and while I do agree with whoever said that Tarah would certainly be in a position to know (maybe she's only of the complainants herself), for her sake I hope that she hasn't layered in hearsay on top of what she directly knows to be true. I guess we'll see.

 

[okokok777]

@okokok777 not to overload you with questions, but what's your take on having a publicly available record of penalties that were implemented but later modified (reduced or changed) or overturned?

Some of the recent cases have involved allegations that were serious enough to justify a temporary suspension, but the suspension was overturned on appeal. I totally support procedural fairness, but OTOH there may be parents and/or skaters who would not want to work with a coach with that history.

In some proceedings like this, in other contexts, a record like that is accessible for a certain amount of time, and if there's no further allegations filed during that time, then the public record is removed. Would something like that be feasible here?

I would be all for it! As for feasibility, I'm not sure if the Center would ever establish anything like that but I could see individual NGBs compiling a list.

 

[Artistic Skaters]

An update on the case regarding Andrei Berekhovski:

Judge rejects plea deal in figure-skating sex assault case after hearing from victim

With both courage and trepidation in her voice, Anika Hansford faced the man accused of abusing her so she could tell a judge how that abuse had destroyed her childhood.

www.clickorlando.com

With both courage and trepidation in her voice, Anika Hansford faced the man accused of abusing her so she could tell a judge how that abuse had destroyed her childhood.

“Instead of all of the things youth sports promises a young woman, my figure skating career led to the most horrifying outcome,” Hansford told Judge Renee Roche during a plea hearing on Wednesday.

Sources tell News 6 that Hansford is one of two women to come forward with information and assault claims against Berekhovski, who appeared in court on Wednesday to face Hansford and his crimes.

After hearing Hansford’s impact statement, Roche sent both sides back to the negotiating table, concerned in part that Berekhovski’s jail time was too lenient.

According to Roche, the sentencing guidelines state that the former coach could legally serve nine years in prison instead of the two years agreed upon in the plea.

 

[MacMadame]

Good for that judge!

 

[Cant Skate]

Updating this here because it involves a criminal case. The article says the coach is already on an interim suspension by SC:

Newfoundland skating coach charged with child luring, sexual assault | SaltWire

Matthew Power has been on interim suspension from Skate Canada since January for allegations of misconduct

www.saltwire.com

Has there been any update on this? His court date was last week I believe unless it got postponed.

 

[TanithandBenFan]

This is beyond awful.

Figure skater Tarah Kayne details abuse allegations against sanctioned Olympic coach

The U.S. Center for SafeSport has temporarily barred pairs figure skating coach Dalilah Sappenfield from having any contact with a dozen skaters.

www.usatoday.com

 

[Theoreticalgirl]

Launch Dalilah Sappenfeld into the sun, immediately.

 

[once_upon]

Wow - we knew stuff was bad when Sappenfield pushed that hat on Tarah's head.

 

[her grace]

Sappenfield is vile.

 

[Taso]

This is beyond awful.

Figure skater Tarah Kayne details abuse allegations against sanctioned Olympic coach

The U.S. Center for SafeSport has temporarily barred pairs figure skating coach Dalilah Sappenfield from having any contact with a dozen skaters.

www.usatoday.com

This makes me so sad and angry to read...wow...I'm glad SafeSport exists so there is somewhere to finally report this kind of abuse. Poor Tarah, wow...

 

[viennese]

This is beyond awful.

Figure skater Tarah Kayne details abuse allegations against sanctioned Olympic coach

The U.S. Center for SafeSport has temporarily barred pairs figure skating coach Dalilah Sappenfield from having any contact with a dozen skaters.

www.usatoday.com

Talk about a toxic environment. It's horrible.

 

[Orm Irian]

This is beyond awful.

Figure skater Tarah Kayne details abuse allegations against sanctioned Olympic coach

The U.S. Center for SafeSport has temporarily barred pairs figure skating coach Dalilah Sappenfield from having any contact with a dozen skaters.

www.usatoday.com

What utterly horrific behaviour. I hope Kayne has a ton of support around her. I'm glad that she feels able and ready to speak out.