SouthernWorldwide.com – In a significant win for athlete safety, three-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Nancy Hogshead has been vindicated in a major legal battle.
A federal judge in Chicago has dismissed a $250 million defamation lawsuit filed against Hogshead by Rick Butler, a prominent junior volleyball coach. Butler and his wife Cheryl had accused Hogshead of damaging their business through statements made in 2017 and 2018 concerning allegations that Butler had sexually abused underage players he coached in the 1980s.
The lawsuit claimed Hogshead’s statements were part of a deliberate campaign to harm the couple’s volleyball business. However, the court determined that because Butler is considered a public figure, he failed to prove “actual malice,” a key element required for defamation claims.
This judicial decision reinforces the right of sports organizations, advocates, survivors of abuse, journalists, and non-profit groups to publicly document instances of abuse. This protection extends even when the accused coach is operating outside of a formal sports organization or arena.
Hogshead emphasized the importance of this ruling, stating, “Survivors, whose coach has been found to have sexually abused them, deserve more than the abuser’s name posted on a little-known database at the U.S. Center for SafeSport.”
She further elaborated on the inadequacy of current protections, noting, “The federal protections we acquired for athletes are inadequate when the sports community does not proactively share their available records and evidence when they learn a banned coach continues to have access to athletes. Disciplinary findings must be shared both widely and in a targeted fashion, as Champion Women did here. We must deny abusers access to athletes. It is highly distressing that Rick Butler continues today to coach young girls.”
Danielle D’Ambrose, attorney for Rick Butler, released a statement to Sportico regarding the judge’s decision. She expressed, “While we respect the judicial process, we strongly disagree with aspects of the Court’s decision and believe significant factual and legal issues remain unresolved.”
U.S. Magistrate Judge Young B. Kim concluded the case last week, granting summary judgment in favor of Hogshead, her nonprofit Champion Women, and co-defendant Deborah DiMatteo.
The judge’s ruling affirmed that their advocacy was fully protected under the First Amendment. Their actions were deemed to be addressing a critical public concern: the potential danger Butler posed to young girls.
The court concluded that any financial losses Butler incurred were a direct result of his own documented history of sexual misconduct, rather than a conspiracy orchestrated by Hogshead and her associates.
