The California Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that USA Taekwondo and other national sports governing bodies could be held legally responsible for protecting their athletes …
The California Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that USA Taekwondo and other national sports governing bodies could be held legally responsible for protecting their athletes from abuse. The decision came over a lawsuit brought by three aspiring female Olympic taekwondo athletes who accused their coach of sexually abusing them for years while they were minors. On Thursday, the California high court upheld a lower court ruling that found that the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee did not necessarily have an inherent legal responsibility to protect athletes because they were not close enough to them or their coaches. However, in the case of USA Taekwondo, the court unanimously ruled that the “closeness of the connection between the defendant’s conduct and the injury suffered,” demonstrated that the sports governing body had a “special relationship” with the plaintiffs, which places a greater responsibility on the organization to directly be aware of potential threats to athletes.
