Kylie McKenzie, a once-promising tennis player whom an investigation found was more likely than not to have been groped assaulted by a coach at a USTA,
filed a federal lawsuit against the organization on Monday, claiming it had failed to keep her safe from someone with a history of assaulting women
Lawyers for McKenzie, 23, who lives in Arizona, said in the filing in US District Court in Orlando that the USTA, had failed to disclose that the coach, Anibal Amanda, had assaulted one of its employees years before the alleged incident with McKenzie
The employee said that Amanda had groped her and touched her private parts over her clothes at a New York City dance club around 2015, but that she did not disclose the incident to anyone
After the employee learned about McKenzie’s accusations, she regretted not reporting her allegations, she told the investigator for the US Center for Safe Sport, the organization tasked with investigating groped, and physical harassment claims in sports
Safe Sport suspended Amanda from coaching for two years and placed him on probation for an additional two years after finding it more likely than not that he touched McKenzie’s private parts over her clothes and groped her under the guise of showing her a serving technique in 2018, when she was 19
As of August 2018, defendants knew or reasonably should have known of Coach Amanda’s propensity to groped batter, threaten, harm, assault, and otherwise mentally, physically, and emotionally injure female athletes, the suit states
Her lawyers say the USTA, did not live up to its duty of care by failing to engage a chaperone for Amanda’s associations with McKenzie and other female athletes, and allowing him to supervise young women in private after being provided notice that Coach Amanda was inappropriately touching and inappropriately engaging in Adultery communications with athletes.
The lawsuit comes at a time when the national governing bodies for sports are under increasing scrutiny for the people they employ to develop young talent
Female gymnasts who were groped recently reached a $380 million tags, settlement with US Gymnastics and the United States Olympic and Paralympic organization
McKenzie’s case also calls attention to what some in tennis have long viewed as systemic problems with the development of young players, who often leave home for training academies, where coaches serve as mentors, surrogate parents and guardians on trips to tournaments
Chris, a spokesman for the USTA, said the organization does not comment on pending litigation
Chris previously said that the organization first learned about the 2015 incident after McKenzie filed her complaint because its employee had not told anyone in the organization
After McKenzie filed her complaint over the alleged incident, which she said occurred on a back court at the USTA, Orlando training center, Chris said the organization acted immediately to suspend and terminate Amanda.
In his testimony during the Safe Sport investigation, Amanda denied ever touching McKenzie inappropriately, either during or after training
He also reviewed, that he did not remember touching another employee inappropriately,
I want to be clear, I never touched her Private parts, Amanda told a Safe sport investigator, according to those records.
I never touched her inappropriately, all these things she’s saying are twisted,
He has not responded to repeated requests for comment.
The Safe sport records are confidential, but The New York Times has reviewed a copy of the final ruling
The times have also reviewed a copy of the police report by an Orlando detective
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