Gold Medal-winning gymnast McKayla Maroney signed a confidential $1.25M settlement agreement with USA Gymnastics in December '16 to "resolve claims related to her alleged yearslong sexual abuse" by former national team Dr. Larry Nassar, according to Rebecca Davis O'Brien of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The existence of the settlement was "revealed in a lawsuit filed by Maroney" yesterday in L.A. Superior Court, seeking damages from the USOC and Michigan State Univ., where Nassar "worked for decades, on the grounds of negligence, sexual harassment and other civil claims." The lawsuit also names USA Gymnastics as a defendant and "seeks to invalidate parts of Maroney’s settlement, claiming the agreement’s nondisclosure and non-disparagement clauses are illegal." The lawsuit "casts a harsh light on the U.S. Olympic leadership, alleging that officials put a premium on secrecy that came at the expense of athletes." It "isn’t known if USA Gymnastics paid settlements to any other alleged victims of Nassar" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/21). In DC, Will Hobson notes the suit alleges MSU and the USOC "failed to respond to warning signs, permitting Nassar to abuse Maroney and others." USAG responded last night with a statement that asserted that Maroney's former attorney, Gloria Allred, "not the Olympic sports organization, requested confidentiality" (WASHINGTON POST, 12/21).
MORE QUESTIONS RAISED: Maroney said that USAG "'coerced' her into signing the confidential settlement." In L.A., Winton, Wharton & Garcia-Roberts in a front-page piece write Maroney’s lawsuit "renews the question of whether national sports officials systematically covered up Nassar’s years of misconduct." A spokesperson for the USOC said that the committee "had not been made aware of the confidential settlement" (L.A. TIMES, 12/21). Maroney's current attorney John Manly said that she "willingly entered" into the confidentiality agreement, but did so at a time when she was "emotionally traumatized" (ESPN.com, 12/20).
