Lawsuits against USA Gymnastics, Larry Nassar, etc. - news & updates

Jimena said:
So Kyla Ross is the only one from the 2012 team who hasn't come forward?

I honestly think we have to rethink the sport. It's not normal for children to be in those types of environments. It's abusive in and of itself and it's exploitative. No one was watching out for these girls. Nobody.
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I don't think the problem is the sport. I think the problem is predators will go for environments that give them victims. So churches schools etc. There should be things in place to keep safe.
Interesting WOGA has no one on the list.
But yes a new federation. This federation cares more about winning then the safety of the athletes. The Karoylis had documented abuse in Romania no one cared.
 
becca said:
I don't think the problem is the sport. I think the problem is predators will go for environments that give them victims. So churches schools etc. There should be things in place to keep safe.
Interesting WOGA has no one on the list.
But yes a new federation. This federation cares more about winning then the safety of the athletes. The Karoylis had documented abuse in Romania no one cared.
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Yes, predators will find the vulnerable organization. One has to have the practices and culture to stay safe.

Example: the church I serve had a problem with a youth leader a number of years ago before I came. After one minor inappropriate behavior he was fired immediately. This isn’t hard unless you make it that way.
 
clairecloutier said:
ohn Orozco calls USAG "an evil organization"
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Good for him. I've found it sad that so few gymnasts are speaking out publicly, even to briefly voice support for the survivors who spoke in court this week. This loud silence includes former gymnasts, though I suppose many of them are still involved in the sport in some way and fear retaliation.

There are exceptions. Dominique Dawes and Dominique Moceanu tweeted. (Moceanu has been speaking out for years about the Karolyis; it's a shame more people didn't listen. The UCLA coach's piece makes it clear that the Karolyis were a huge part of the problem and helped make the sexual abuse possible.)

I have so much respect for the survivors who are speaking out. I hope Aly knows that she will help others because she decided to go to court this week. And I hope that the experience is helping her to heal. Ditto for all the other survivors who spoke this week.

My heart breaks for Simone. I'm sure she doesn't want to be defined by this or to have to constantly answer questions about the abuse. But, out of everyone, she probably will get the most questions in the future since she plans to continue to competing. (I hope Laurie Hernandez somehow managed to dodge the abuse.)
 
Three members of USAG's board of directors have resigned today so perhaps there is finally a path for change there. I still love gymnastics and I don't want to see the sport undone by this. I hope these changes aren't too little too late.

Meanwhile, MSU is still showing support for its president, which just baffles me. MSU has by far the most culpability in this IMO.

A number of the gymnasts who have spoken today and last week have told horrific stories of John Geddert at Twistars. Regardless of what that man did or didn't know about Nassar, he should not be coaching based on what has been said this week.
 
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Erin said:
A number of the gymnasts who have spoken today and last week have told horrific stories of John Geddert at Twistars. Regardless of what that man did or didn't know about Nassar, he should not be coaching based on what has been said this week.
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Unfortunately, what has been said about Geddert could probably be said for a lot of gymnastics coaches. Not all, but unfortunately, physical and emotional abuse runs rampant in the sport. A new USAG might be a step in the right direction, but there needs to be a full-out culture change at the grassroots level.

I'm not sure how I feel about the MSU president situation. Yes, the buck stops with her, but was she made aware of the Nassar allegations or investigation? From what I've read, it sounds like the athletic director and some of her senior staff should be fired (the ones who haven't already resigned, and maybe there is a way that those resigning don't get their full pension and retirement benefits, but that probably isn't possible). I am, however, unimpressed that she showed up to hear victim impact statements only 1 day.
 
I’ve been watching elite gymnastics for a long time. Even as a kid, I thought most of the coaches seemed really mean with Grossfeld being an exception. The culture has to change. This isn’t American football.
 
Allskate said:
Good for him. I've found it sad that so few gymnasts are speaking out publicly, even to briefly voice support for the survivors who spoke in court this week. This loud silence includes former gymnasts, though I suppose many of them are still involved in the sport in some way and fear retaliation. . . .
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Bart Connor has tweeted a number of items including support for Maggie Nichols and stating that change has to come as a result of the survivor stories.
 
@Erin @Debbie S I think the reason people are showing support for MSU's president is that she did nothing wrong based on the protocols of the school. Although there were allegations starting in 1997, 0 were reported up the chain until 2014. In 2014, there was a very inadequate investigation by a Title IX office that was already under federal investigation for being awful at its job. Per school protocol, Simon was informed that there was an investigation happening. Also per protocol, she was not further notified because the investigation turned up nothing and the police investigation also turned up nothing (which, apparently his abuse was well known in the community so I don't know how). She was not told anything else or otherwise notified of the situation until the big story in the Indianapolis times broke. So because she was following school protocol, I don't know what else she could have done. Her statements (ie. the livestream comment, not seeming more caring for the victims) and actions (no outside investigation until Friday) certainly look bad for her, but up until the story broke I don't think she did anything wrong.

She and the athletic department have even recently changed policies involving investigation, reporting, and handling of sexual assault accusations (ie. in early 2017 firing a staff member who didn't report a sexual assault by football players and indefinitely suspending the football players during the investigation before dismissing them; they kept the process transparent as it happened), so it's not like they've been just doing nothing about this problem.

The ones I think should be fired are the Title IX office staff for their poor investigations, the individuals who did not report accusations to be investigated or dismissed the accusations (that coach seems awful), the College of Osteopathic medicine staff for not only letting him practice during the investigation but also for not questioning his methods - which were obviously not evidence-based, and MSU Sports Medicine for not supervising him properly and ensuring that he was following the post-investigation recommendations (ie. having someone in the room with him at all times during patient interactions and properly explaining all procedures).
 
Willin said:
@Erin @Debbie S I think the reason people are showing support for MSU's president is that she did nothing wrong based on the protocols of the school. [snip]

The ones I think should be fired are the Title IX office staff for their poor investigations, the individuals who did not report accusations to be investigated or dismissed the accusations (that coach seems awful), the College of Osteopathic medicine staff for not only letting him practice during the investigation but also for not questioning his methods - which were obviously not evidence-based, and MSU Sports Medicine for not supervising him properly and ensuring that he was following the post-investigation recommendations (ie. having someone in the room with him at all times during patient interactions and properly explaining all procedures).
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That's the point - she may have done nothing wrong at the time, but she is doing everything wrong now and is showing terrible leadership currently. The fact that none of these people have been fired is the perfect example of how she is not doing her job.
 
Erin said:
That's the point - she may have done nothing wrong at the time, but she is doing everything wrong now and is showing terrible leadership currently. The fact that none of these people have been fired is the perfect example of how she is not doing her job.
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As someone who worked for a very large university system as a manager, let me say that firing folks was a very tough and extremely time-consuming process, and the privacy restrictions on what could be said publicly were signficant. In the public school system I worked with more recently, quick suspensions and reasonably quick terminations were practical in the cases where someone perpetrated physical or sexual assault. Other than that it was a long and painful process unless the person could be convinced to resign. I'm not making excuses for those folks at all, but the due process issues with public employers are complicated and lengthy. I get pretty frustrated with how many cops the Denver police chief has fired for inappropriate violence, only to have those decisions repeatedly overturned in the arbitration process.
 
John Geddert has been suspended (as of Friday) while USAG investigates him:
http://www.espn.com/espn/otl/story/...olympics-coach-john-geddert-tied-larry-nassar

I'm guessing this is directly related to some of the examples of behavior that were shared at Nassar's sentencing. And yeah, I'm sure he is far from the only coach behaving like this. But this kind of behavior is not ok and cannot be tolerated and needs to be reported and investigated and if true, set an example of.
 
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I just saw a news statement online that USA Gym has suspended John Geddert. I couldn't find a link to the actual news, though.

ETA: Looks like Erin and I posted at the same time, and she found a link.

@barbk I have worked at a university - yes, there is a long process involved in firing people for cause, but there are certain circumstances that result in immediate suspension/leave without pay. In most cases, violating sexual assault/reporting policies is one of them. Of course, one would have to prove what they knew and when, but evidence seems pretty damning here.
 
Erin said:
Three members of USAG's board of directors have resigned today so perhaps there is finally a path for change there.
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https://www.indystar.com/story/news...gymnastics-board-directors-resign/1054288001/
Three top USA Gymnastics executives resigned from the board of directors on Monday amid searing testimony from sexual abuse survivors in a Michigan courtroom.
Chairman Paul Parilla, vice chairman Jay Binder and treasurer Bitsy Kelley resigned as former longtime USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar is being sentenced for sexual assault.
...
Parilla of Lake Forest, Calif., a former attorney and father of a former Olympian in trampoline, had served 18 years on the oversight board. Binder served 15 years. Kelley served 10 years.
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Allskate said:
Good for him. I've found it sad that so few gymnasts are speaking out publicly, even to briefly voice support for the survivors who spoke in court this week. This loud silence includes former gymnasts, though I suppose many of them are still involved in the sport in some way and fear retaliation.
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Nastia Liukin posted a very thoughtful piece on her blog recently, and has also been posting messages of support on her Instagram. Her family has donated $20,000 to an organization that provides help for survivors of sexual abuse, and she has committed to donating proceeds from her annual Nastia Liukin Cup to a similar organization (which she has not chosen yet, but says she is in the process of researching).

I especially like that she directly addressed her previous comments about the situation during the national championships on live TV. I was quite disappointed because she seemed to hedge and then cheerily avoid the question by saying she had never experienced any abuse in her own career and then changing the subject, but in her post, she says that she was not warned that she would be asked the question on live television and was taken aback and flustered. She regrets her initial response and wishes she had had time to think through a more thoughtful and honest answer.
 
Although I'm glad to see any leave, why only three board members so far? It looks like members of their executive board, but plenty more need to go. USAG required their athletes to undergo mandatory "medical" treatments by Nassar. What's going to happen when costs for their risk management go through the roof because of this after the athlete lawsuits & payouts? Their membership & clubs should absolutely refuse to subsidize increased costs because of the negligence of USAG directors. I just don't see them recovering from it without many more significant changes, starting with the BOD.

On another unbelievable note, when this athlete gave her testimony today she said her mother is still being billed for Nassar's treatments. Michigan State responded & Nassar's patients "will not be billed", which makes it sound like they haven't actually taken care of it yet even after all this time (????)

*** Nassar victim said Michigan State still billing her :
http://wfla.com/2018/01/22/nassar-victim-says-michigan-state-still-billing-her/
 
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dramagrrl said:
Nastia Liukin posted a very thoughtful piece on her blog recently, and has also been posting messages of support on her Instagram.
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That's a very recent message. It seems like it took her quite some time to address the problem. It's one thing to be taken aback by an unexpected question. (Her initial response seems to be an indication that the default is to defend USAG.) Why did it take her so long? Does her more recent messaging have anything to do with the USOC's newfound concern and the changes going on at USAG?

Aly clearly has had enough of PR statements and refusals to be accountable:

https://twitter.com/Aly_Raisman/status/955632357528174592
 
FYI, I actually shared the Nastia post on the page five of this thread so it's been out for a few days (I saw it and shared it here on Friday night).

Proud of Aly for not backing down. :respec:
 
HeatherC said:
FYI, I actually shared the Nastia post on the page five of this thread so it's been out for a few days (I saw it and shared it here on Friday night).
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A few days is not very long. It's been a lot more than a few days since she made her initial comments and a lot more than a "few days" since she became aware of problems with Nassar. It does not look good.

It's not just her. A lot of people in the gymnastics world have been silent, even last week. It shows how powerful USAG is, what people think the consequences would be if they spoke out, or how little they care.
 
Allskate said:
A few days is not very long. It's been a lot more than a few days since she made her initial comments and a lot more than a "few days" since she became aware of problems with Nassar. It does not look good.
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I agree that Nastia waited too long to make this statement. The other thing that sticks out about her statement is that the focus is on her and not on the gymnasts who were assaulted by Nassar. There have been other messages by other gymnasts that have come across as more heartfelt and sincere (e.g. Dominique Dawes, Vanessa Atler, more recently Shawn Johnson).

That said, I appreciate that she is doing the right thing now. I also think that she was put in a tough position on live TV by her employer NBC and should have never been asked some of those questions. Also, some women who were abused by Nassar defended him initially - one of them who gave an impact statement yesterday had publicly defended him in the media for months before eventually coming to the realization that what he did to her was abuse too. And she has never said that she didn't believe the victims or didn't support them - just that he had never abused her. So while I think that some of her initial statements were not the greatest, I don't think we should vilify her either.
 
Tesla said:
What happened to Mattie Larson is horrifying. I wish the Karolyis could be brought to justice. They have a lot to answer for. Cowards.
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Yup. Seems to be a race to the bottom for who can inflict the most abuse. The whole culture is whack. Yes, you have to be strong and brave, but enduring abuse shouldn’t be part of the test.
 
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