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Swimmer Nancy Hogshead, a three-time Olympic gold medalist for Team USA, 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 he coached in the 1980s.
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Jenna Johnson, Nancy Hogshead, Carrie Steinseifer and Dara Torres of the United States celebrate victory in the women’s 4×100 meter freestyle relay during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games at Olympic Aquatics Stadium. (Porter Binks-USA TODAY Network)
“For decades, Rick Butler spoke about the consequences that should have flowed from findings that he sexually abused his minor athletes; he could be very persuasive. Even if there was substantial evidence that would have allowed reasonable people to conclude that Rick Butler posed a grave danger to girls, it was difficult for families and the volleyball community to accurately assess that risk. That toll is now clear to all.” Hogshead said in a statement to PK Press Club Digital.
The lawsuit alleged that 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 that his defamation claims failed because he could not establish “actual malice.”
The judge’s ruling affirms that sports organizations, advocates, survivors, journalists and nonprofits have the legal right to present a case of abuse, even when the coach operates outside of a specific sports arena.
“Survivors whose coach sexually abused them deserve more than the abuser’s name published on a little-known U.S. Center for SafeSport database,” Hogshead added.
FORMER UTAH STATE VOLLEYBALL STAR SAYS SJSU TRANS SCANDAL CAUSED INJURED FINGERS AND BROKEN DREAMS
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, DC, June 21, 2012. (Larry Busacca/Getty Images)
“The federal protections we have gained for athletes are inadequate when the sports community does not proactively share its available records and evidence when it learns that a banned coach continues to have access to athletes. Disciplinary findings must be shared both broadly and in a targeted manner, because Women Champions done here. We must deny attackers access to athletes. It is very sad that Rick Butler continues to coach young girls today.”
Butler’s attorney, Danielle D’Ambrose, provided a statement to Sportico regarding the decision.
“While we respect the judicial process, we strongly disagree with certain aspects of the Court’s decision and believe that important factual and legal questions remain outstanding,” 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 that their plea was fully protected by the First Amendment. They were talking about a matter of vital public interest: the danger Butler posed to young girls.
The judge ruled that Butler’s loss of income was the natural consequence of his own documented sexual misconduct, not a conspiracy.
