USA Swimming and the U.S. Center for SafeSport are headed to court over a legal dispute regarding which organization is on the hook for damages from a case filed in November 2023.
The underlying case filed last November, entitled Doe v. United States Center for SafeSport Inc et al, alleges numerous defects in SafeSport’s investigation and that the alleged defects resulted in financial harm to the plaintiffs.
The investigation from the underlying case came to light this past January, when SwimSwam reported how, in April 2022, a teenage swimmer was notified he faced allegations of sexual misconduct. The swimmer was 13 at the time he was accused of slapping a teammate on the butt in June 2021. The swimmer was 16 at the time of the report in January 2024, and had been dealing with an inability to compete for nearly three years.
The case, filed by the swimmer and their parent, alleges that the plaintiffs reported problems with the SafeSport investigation to USA Swimming, but USA Swimming declined to interfere with the ongoing investigation (NGBs are prevented by federal law from interfering with a SafeSport investigation).
The complaint then alleges that USA Swimming sent out an email titled “Notice of Allegations and Temporary Measures for (text redacted),” which reflected SafeSport’s “imposition of ‘temporary measures’ undertaken pursuant to its obligations under the MSA.”
The MSA (Master Services Agreement) is designed to help govern the relationship between SafeSport, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and the USOPC’s national governing bodies (NGBs). The dispute comes down to whether or not a jury determines the MSA says the USOPC or USA Swimming is liable for the damages in the underlying case.
The complaint brought four actions against both SafeSport and USA Swimming: (1) declaratory relief, (2) Breach of the Washington Consumer Protection Act, (3) Breach of the Washington Constitution-Breach of Privacy, and (4) intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The damages from these actions have been incurred by USA Swimming. Counsel for the national governing body sent a letter to SafeSport on December 19 “demanding” that SafeSport compensate USA Swimming for all costs and fees in connection with the lawsuit as required by the MSA.
However, SafeSport’s Counsel disputed the fact that USA Swimming had the legal standing to request compensation in this respect. The case briefing says that SafeSport is “taking the position that its indemnification (compensation) obligation is owed only to the USOPC and not to any NGB,” thus declining to accept USA Swimming’s demand for compensation.
USA Swimming’s claim is that SafeSport has breached the MSA by failing to accept its indemnification obligation, thus demanding a trial by jury for determination on if it is owed compensation from SafeSport or not.
The case was filed on March 7, 2024, in Denver County. A court date has been set for April 7, 2025.
The underlying case filed last November was dismissed in court on August 23, meaning the damages incurred by USA Swimming have stopped.
Nothing screams “functional” like NGB’s taking their watchdog organizations to court.