“Today’s report that the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee paid disgraced former CEO Scott Blackman 2.4 million dollars to resign in February of 2018 is an insult to every Olympic athlete and a stain on our country. USOC’s own internal investigation of the Larry Nassar scandal revealed that Blackman had clear evidence that Nassar had molested Olympic gold medalists McKayla Maroney and Aly Raisman along with World and NCAA champion Maggie Nichols in June of 2015. He kept this information secret from law enforcement, the public, and Michigan State University. As a result of his concealment and inaction, Nassar was allowed to continue molesting dozens of girls and young women until his arrest in December of 2016.
To this date, USOC continues to deny responsibility for Nassar’s actions and compensation for his victims, yet they have seen fit to compensate Nassar’s enablers for covering up his crimes. USOC is a federally chartered corporation, so I call upon Congress to demand the resignation of USOC CEO Sarah Hirshland and the USOC Board. USOC sponsors including Coca Cola, Visa, General Electric, NBC-Comcast, Nike, Kellogg’s, and United Airlines should suspend financial support until a new Board and executive team dedicated to transparency and athlete safety can be established.”
Manly Stewart & Finaldi is the nation’s leading firm representing athletes in child sexual abuse cases against school districts, Universities, and Olympic Governing Bodies. They recently represented 180 alleged victims of former Olympic Team doctor Larry Nassar, resulting in a $500 million-dollar settlement against Michigan State University. In 2018, the firm settled cases against the Torrance Unified School District for $31 million on behalf of alleged victims of former wrestling coach and convicted child molester Thomas Snider; against Los Angeles Unified School district for $8 million in cases involving former football coach and convicted child molester Jamie Jimenez; and for $14 million in cases involving former Los Angeles Unified District employee Ronnie Lee Roman. The firm has also settled $30 million in claims against Redlands Unified
