Gold medal-winning gymnast Aly Raisman is suing the U.S. Olympic Committee on the grounds that the organization knew or should have known about former team doctor Larry Nassar’s decades of sexual abuse of athletes.
According to court records, Raisman filed the lawsuit on Wednesday. In a statement to NBC News, Raisman slammed the USOC, which oversees USA Gymnastics, the sport’s governing body in the United States.
“After all this time, they remain unwilling to conduct a full investigation, and without a solid understanding of how this happened, it is delusional to think sufficient changes can be implemented,” she said.
“I refuse to wait any longer for these organizations to do the right thing. It is my hope that the legal process will hold them accountable and enable the change that is so desperately needed.”
The lawsuit was filed one day after USOC CEO Scott Blackmun resigned, citing health issues. A month ago, the Wall Street Journal reported that the USOC ignored warnings about Nassar’s abuse in 2015, a year before the Indianapolis Star broke the story about Nassar’s abuse.
Raisman, who delivered searing criticism of USA Gymnastics and the USOC during Nassar’s sentencing hearing, joins more than 250 women and girls who are suing Nassar and the organizations who they say enabled him.
[NBC News]