Maurizi files $10 million lawsuit against Callaghan, USFS, PSA & Buffalo Skating Club

[Sylvia]

By Pete Madden:

Former skater sues coach, federation over alleged sexual abuse and coverup

Craig Maurizi has filed a $10 million lawsuit against famed figure skating coach Richard Callaghan and a trio of skating institutions.

abcnews.go.com

Excerpts:

Craig Maurizi, a onetime Olympic hopeful turned Olympic coach, has filed a $10 million lawsuit against famed figure skating coach Richard Callaghan and a trio of skating institutions, including U.S. Figure Skating, the sport’s national governing body.
...
The lawsuit is the latest chapter in a fight for accountability that has already spanned more than two decades. Maurizi’s allegations against Callaghan have been the subject of confidential investigations, media reports and legal proceedings, and they have been repeatedly corroborated and even, most recently, validated by the independent watchdog organization responsible for eradicating sexual misconduct in the Olympic Movement.

Callaghan, who was actively coaching in Florida until 2018, when he was suspended by U.S. Figure Skating pending an investigation, has repeatedly denied any misconduct. He has since filed for bankruptcy.
...
Maurizi is suing under the Child Victims Act, signed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo last year, which created a one-year window from August 14, 2019 to August 14, 2020, in which victims of childhood sexual abuse could bring legal action against alleged abusers and enablers regardless of the statute of limitations.

(@Theoreticalgirl first posted this news in the "Keeping Track of Criminal Cases..." thread and I thought it deserved it own thread.)

ETA link to read the lawsuit document (22 pages): https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6997922-2020-07-20-20-CV-922-Maurizi-v-Callaghan.html

 

[bethy135]

I hope consistent press coverage like this somehow forces real change in the fundamental culture of Figure Skating. Yay for transparency!

 

[tony]

I have no doubt Maurizi went through some horrible things as a teenager/young adult.

But I still think we need to address why he and his wife were trying to contact victim(s) in the John Coughlin case the day after his suicide. Remember- they weren't named, yet Maurizi and Modlin somehow knew and made the attempt. And then there's his wife calling one of the accusers 'mentally unstable' or whatever the words were.

It's a baffling approach considering Maurizi's past.

 

[LarrySK8]

It is my opinion that the true motivations of the plaintiff are expressed quite clearly by their main demand in their lawsuit.... 10 million dollars.

Cynical view, but so what?

 

[Sylvia]

Article by David K. Li:

Figure skating coach Richard Callaghan sued by former athlete, alleging sexual abuse and coverup

Defendants include three governing bodies, accused for turning a blind eye to rampant misconduct.

www.nbcnews.com

Callaghan "was pushed out of" the Buffalo Skating Club in 1980 "in part because of his abuse of Craig," according to the complaint.
"Rather than take any steps to stop Callaghan's abuse, such as making an official report to USFS, PSA, or law enforcement, BSC instead foisted him on another skating club, the Philadelphia Skating Club," the lawsuit continued. "Upon information and belief, it was widely known among members of USFS and PSA that Callaghan had been pushed out of BSC because of his abuse of Craig and others."
The Buffalo Skating Club knew the coach kept alcohol in his office when he was based in western New York and regularly shared the alcohol with minors, according to the lawsuit.
“BSC was aware of Callaghan’s abuse of Craig, but permitted Callaghan to continue to use their facilities for his illegal and illicit activities,” the complaint said.

 

[clairecloutier]

Getting back to the first article in this thread, I’m surprised that ABC was able to confidentially obtain a cache of actual documents from the SafeSport Investigation into Callaghan. Does that mean someone in the SafeSport org is leaking documents? Are there penalties for that or not?

 

[Sylvia]

From Pete Madden's earlier article for ABC (linked in today's) dated March 12, 2018:

Maurizi submitted a tranche of documents to SafeSport – mostly letters to and from skaters, coaches and skating officials regarding his case – many of which had also been submitted to U.S. Figure Skating nearly 20 years ago. He also provided those same documents to ABC News.

 

[MacMadame]

The BSC isn't the only place that Callaghan was pushed out of. The person who told me that their club pushed him out of our rink was pretty proud of how they hadn't put up with his behavior and saved their own skaters. I do think for the time period, it was brave enough, but this is exactly what institutions do when they don't want to deal with the problem of sexual abuse. They push the person on to the next group instead of reporting them and making it public.