USA Taekwondo Had Duty to Protect Athletes from Sexual Abuse

The national governing body for competitive taekwondo in the United States owed a special duty to teen athletes who were sexually assaulted by former coach Marc Gitelman, the California Supreme Court said Thursday.

Athletes sued USA Taekwondo for negligence, alleging the organization banned Gitelman from coaching only after years of ignored abuse. USAT failed to protect athletes and took insufficient steps when the abuse allegations first came to light, the suit said.

Gitelman was ultimately convicted of multiple felonies for the sexual abuse of the minor athletes he trained.

A trial court in Los Angeles initially dismissed claims against USAT, ...