USA Gymnastics Abuse Claimants Seek to Bring State Court Suit

A pair of sex abuse claimants challenged USA Gymnastics’ efforts to block their state court lawsuits against a coach and the organization, saying they didn’t receive adequate notice of the claims bar date during bankruptcy proceedings.

USAG in 2021 secured court approval of its bankruptcy plan and settlement resolving widespread claims of sex abuse by team doctor Larry Nassar.

But lawyers for Hailey Gear and Finley Weldon said in a Feb. 6 court filing that they should be permitted to pursue their Iowa state court lawsuits against USAG and their former coach Sean Gardner, who they say abused them while the bankruptcy was proceeding. The lawsuits were filed in November.

USAG’s bankruptcy documents don’t support its argument that abuse claimants and known creditors received actual notice to file a claim before the April 2019 bar date, the pair said in the filing in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

A December 2021 filing showed that sex abuse claimants only received an email regarding a court hearing for confirmation of the bankruptcy exit plan, but never received the proposal documents, the pair said.

The plan, which was supported by all 476 abuse survivors who submitted a vote, was approved that month. It included a $380 million settlement, paid largely from insurance proceeds.

Some of the organization’s biggest stars, like Simone Biles and Aly Raisman, joined with other gymnasts seeking compensation for the abuse they endured. USAG’s bankruptcy proceedings focused heavily on Nassar’s victims.

USAG sought in December to enforce the court-approved bankruptcy plan terms and have Gear and Weldon’s lawsuits dismissed. The pair are enjoined from pursuing litigation outside of submitting a claim to the settlement trustee, the organization said.

The abuse by Gardner, which started in September 2018, lasted for two years and three months against Gear, while Weldon’s abuse occurred for two and a half years before their departure from an Iowa facility, the pair said. USAG’s bankruptcy began in December 2018.

Gear was 12 years old and Weldon was 11 at the time.

Gardner’s history of grooming and abusing was known in January 2018 before he was allowed to leave from Mississippi-based Jump’In Gymnastics & Tumbling to coach at Iowa-based Chow Gymnastics and Dance Institute in the fall of that year, the pair said.

The owner of Jump’In reported Gardner’s behavior to a then-USAG attorney before Gardner was allowed to transfer, the filing said.

USAG didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Attorneys for Gardner couldn’t immediately be reached.

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP and Pryor Cashman LLP represent the pair. Jenner & Block LLP represents USAG.

The case is USA Gymnastics, Bankr. S.D. Ind., No. 18-bk-09108, objection 2/6/26.