The U.S. Olympic Committee is off the hook for negligence in a case where an Olympic taekwondo coach sexually assaulted underaged athletes, but USA Taekwondo could still be held liable for the abuse, according to a California appellate court ruling.  

The justices for the Second District Court of Appeal determined that USOC did not have a duty of care because it lacked a direct relationship with coaches and athletes. On the other hand, USA Taekwondo, which oversees the sport for the Olympic committee, had a special relationship with coaches and could have stepped in to protect the athletes, the judges ruled. The court affirmed the dismissal of USOC from the case, but remanded the claims of negligence against USAT to the trial court.

"USAT's failure to take any steps prior to 2013 to prevent taekwondo coaches from sexually abusing female athletes is closely connected to the injury plaintiffs suffered because action by USAT could have reduced the risk of plaintiffs being abused by limiting inappropriate contact between coaches and youth athletes," wrote Associate Justice Gail Ruderman Feuer, who was joined by Presiding Justice Dennis Perluss and Associate Justice Laurie D. Zelon.

Brianna Bordon, Yazmin Brown and Kendra Gatt first sued their coach Marc Gitelman, USOC and USAT in 2015 over claims that Gitelman sexually abused the Taekwondo competitors when they were 15 and 16 years old. The plaintiffs were members of USAT, and Gitelman was a registered coach with the organization, as required to compete in the Olympics.

Gitelman was ultimately sentenced to four years in prison on multiple felony sex charges and ordered to pay a $60 million judgement to three of his victims.

In November 2016, Judge Michael Vicencia of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County sustained USOC and USAT's motions for demurrer that argued plaintiffs asserted uncertain causes of actions and failed to state their claim with facts. "Gitelman was not an employee or agent of either of the defendants and the facts alleged do not make him one," Vicenia wrote in his order.

On appeal, the sexual abuse survivors contended that USOC's ability to decommission national governing bodies such as USAT demonstrated that they could have taken action to prevent the abuse.

The court, however, did not find a direct relationship. "These allegations show USOC had the ability to regulate USAT's conduct, but they do not establish that USOC had the ability to control Gitelman's conduct, or USOC was in the best position to protect plaintiffs from Gitelman's sexual abuse," Ruderman Feuer wrote.

The athletes also alleged that both organizations had full knowledge of "rampant" sexual abuse from coaches as far back as 1999, when USOC required all national governing bodies—including USAT—to have insurance to cover sexual abuse by coaches.

The plaintiffs also allege that USAT received regular complaints of sexual abuse from parents and athletes and it was "aware that female taekwondo athletes, and Olympian level athletes in general were frequently victims of sexual molestation by their coaches yet did nothing to protect these athletes from such abuse." However, USAT did not adopt policies to protect members until 2013, according to the opinion.

Based on these allegations, the court found that USAT should have been able to foresee the risk that "youth athletes attending Olympic qualifying competitions with their coaches might be sexually molested by their coaches, regardless of whether USAT had knowledge of prior sexual misconduct by Gitelman," the justice wrote.

Estey & Bomberger' Stephen Estey in San Diego; B. Robert Allard of Corsiglia McMahon & Allard in San Jose; and Jon Williams of Williams Iagmin in San Diego represented the plaintiffs. They did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.

Patrick E. Stockalper of Kjar, McKenna, Stockalper in El Segundo defended USAT. Clyde & Co.'s Douglass Collodel, Margaret Holm and M. Christopher Hall counseled the USOC. The defendants' attorneys also did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.