How to Hold Coaches, Schools, and Sports Organizations Liable for Sexual Abuse and Harassment of Athletes

According to Safe4athletes.org — a nonprofit dedicated to helping abused students and sports organizations draft effective policies to prevent, stop, and report abuse — sexual abuse and harassment of athletes of any gender by coaches is a major problem. Students and young athletes place their trust in coaches to help the students achieve better athletic performance on the playing fields. Too often, this trust is breached by a coach who takes advantage of his/her position of authority to sexually abuse or harass the athlete.

The scope of the problem

Many athletes fail to disclose sexual abuse because they think it is embarrassing, not just to them but to their schools as well. This mistaken silence prevents necessary actions from being taken. Schools often resolve reported disputes by making a settlement where the coach resigns, sometimes with a cash settlement and a promise to keep the disciplinary actions quiet. Some schools and school districts hire coaches even though they know the coach had a prior history of abuses.

Coaching misconduct is not confined to the schools. Many off-campus clubs, organizations, and leagues involve coaches who sexually abuse the participants, even when these entities have a “code of appropriate conduct” in place. The Safe4Athletes site reported numerous cases of sexual abuse of girls in swimming and gymnastics. Sexual abuse occurs at local clubs and teams as well as at the national level.

Why abuse cases are unreported or unprosecuted

Some of the reasons coaches are able to get away with their egregious misconduct include:

• Students and athletes often fail to understand their legal options.
• The concern that many cases rely on the spoken testimony of the student athlete as opposed to any physical evidence such as semen or torn clothing.
• Delay in reporting that the offense has occurred.
• No internal process for reporting offenses or for investigating sexual abuse.
• No real oversight committees.
• Denial by the parents of the problem.

Some students fail to understand that the coach is demanding a trade-off — sexual performance against the athlete’s will, in return for making or staying on the team. A big problem is that often it is other coaches and friends of the coaches who are tasked with conducting the review of sexual assault or harassment allegations, which is an inherent conflict of interest. Sadly, it often takes multiple complaints and multiple acts of misconduct before charges are brought and make a difference.

Steps that need to be taken

The Safe4Athletes site outlines three key steps that organizations need to take:

1. Educating parents about their options on reporting and prosecuting sexual abuse.
2. Creating an atmosphere for young athletes to feel comfortable reporting misconduct.
3. Taking appropriate action against the coaches who do commit abuse or harassment.

At Taylor & Ring, we believe there is a fourth and very important factor. That factor is bringing legal claims against the coaches and any entities that fail in their duty to protect student athletes from abuse, such as the schools, supervisors, school districts, sports organizations, and overseer organizations. A significant monetary judgment is often the best way to force these entities to put better safeguards in place, to punish the wrongdoers for causing insufferable harm to the athlete who was abused, and to provide justice for the athlete who was taken advantage of.

Get legal help when coaches cross the decency line and sexually abuse your child

At Taylor & Ring, our Los Angeles sexual abuse and harassment lawyers have experience bringing misconduct lawsuits throughout Southern California. Our experience enables us to compassionately help the athlete understand the misconduct and why it is important to hold the wrongdoers accountable. All sexual abuse and sexual harassment cases are handled with discretion. For answers to your questions and strong advocacy, please phone Taylor & Ring at 310-776-6390 or complete our contact form to schedule an appointment.

Se habla español.