FILE – The U.S. Open logo is shown on the Arthur Ashe Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center during the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020, in New York. The U.S. Tennis Association has retained two lawyers at a Washington-based firm to review its safeguarding policies and procedures to protect players from sexual misconduct and other abuse. The head of the organization that runs the U.S. Open and oversees the sport in the United States revealed the review in an email sent Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, to the USTA Board of Directors and others. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)
The U.S. Tennis Association has enlisted two lawyers at a Washington-based firm to look into its safeguarding policies and procedures to protect players from sexual misconduct and other abuse.
Lew Sherr, the CEO and executive director of the organization that runs the U.S. Open and oversees the sport in the United States, wrote about the review in an email sent Thursday to the USTA Board of Directors, various staff and volunteers and obtained by The Associated Press.
As part of efforts “to prevent harm to athletes and respond to reports of inappropriate conduct … the USTA has retained David O’Neil and Mary Beth Hogan of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP to review our policies and procedures for preventing, reporting, and responding to reports of abuse, including sexual misconduct,” Sherr wrote.
The subject line of the email is “Reviewing Policies to Ensure Safety.”
The announcement of the review comes nearly two years after a tennis player sued the USTA in federal court in Florida alleging that the governing body failed to protect her from a coach who she says sexually abused her at one of its training centers when she was 19.
Kylie McKenzie accused coach Anibal Aranda of touching her inappropriately. The AP generally doesn’t name alleged sexual assault victims, but McKenzie…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply