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Three-time Team USA Olympic gold medalist women’s swimmer Nancy Hogshead has won a massive legal victory for athlete safety.
A federal judge in Chicago has dismissed a $250 million lawsuit filed against Hogshead by Rick Butler, a prominent junior volleyball coach accused of sexually abusing underage players. The lawsuit was filed in December 2021 by Butler and his wife Cheryl, targeting statements Hogshead made in 2017 and 2018 regarding allegations that Butler sexually abused teenage girls that he coached in the 1980s.
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Jenna Johnson, Nancy Hogshead, Carrie Steinseifer and Dara Torres of the United States celebrate winning the women’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games at Olympic Swim Stadium. (Porter Binks-USA TODAY NETWORK)
“For decades, Rick Butler has talked his way out of the consequences that should have flowed from the findings that he sexually abused his minor athletes; he could be very convincing. While substantial evidence existed that would have enabled reasonable people to conclude that Rick Butler posed a serious danger to girls, it was difficult for families and the volleyball community to accurately assess that risk. That record is now plain for all to see,” Hogshead said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
The lawsuit alleged Hogshead’s statements were part of a malicious effort to ruin the couple’s volleyball business. But because Butler is a public figure, the court ruled his defamation-style claims failed because he could not establish “actual malice.”
The judge’s decision affirms that sports organizations, advocates, survivors, journalists and nonprofits have the legal right to present a record of abuse, even when the coach is operating outside a specific sports arena.
“Survivors, whose coach has been found to have sexually abused them, deserve more than the abuser’s name posted on a little-known database at the U.S. Center for SafeSport,” Hogshead added.
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Nancy Hogshead, senior director of advocacy for the Women’s Sports Foundation, attends the 40 For 40 event celebrating 40 years of Title IX at the JW Marriott Hotel in Washington, D.C., on June 21, 2012. (Larry Busacca/Getty Images)
“The federal protections we acquired for athletes are inadequate when the sports community does not proactively share their available records and evidence when they learn a banned coach continues to have access to athletes. Disciplinary findings must be shared both widely and in a targeted fashion, as Champion Women did here. We must deny abusers access to athletes. It is highly distressing that Rick Butler continues today to coach young girls.”
Butler’s attorney Danielle D’Ambrose provided a statement to Sportico addressing the ruling.
“While we respect the judicial process, we strongly disagree with aspects of the Court’s decision and believe significant factual and legal issues remain unresolved,” D’Ambrose said.
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Olympic gold medalist Nancy Hogshead poses for a photo. (Courtesy of XX-XY Athletics)
U.S. Magistrate Judge Young B. Kim ended the case last week. He granted summary judgment to Hogshead, her nonprofit Champion Women and co-defendant Deborah DiMatteo.
The judge ruled their advocacy was fully protected by the First Amendment. They were speaking on a vital matter of public concern: the danger Butler posed to young girls.
The judge ruled Butler’s lost revenue was the natural consequence of his own documented sexual misconduct, not a conspiracy.