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Multiple former U.S. Ski & Snowboard team members are suing their ex-coach Peter Foley for sex abuse, harassment and trafficking, in a lawsuit filed on Thursday obtained by ESPN.
The lawsuit alleges defendants, which also include the U.S. Ski and Snowboard (USSS), its longtime CEO Gale Shaw and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, enabled the unlawful acts for nearly 20 years. The suit was filed by plaintiffs Rosey Fletcher, Callan Chythlook-Sifsof and Erin O’Malley, three former U.S. Ski & Snowboard Olympians.
The three Olympians claim in the lawsuit that their former coach, who was fired from USSS in March 2022 after a probe into his misconduct, used his position of power to “coerce sexual acts through force, manipulation, emotional abuse, intimidation, and retaliation.” The former athletes said complaints about the coach to the sport’s federation and USPOC were ignored.
“As a woman, and as the mother of an 11-year-old daughter, it’s my moral obligation,” Fletcher told the Los Angeles Times. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of here. I’m the victim.”
Fletcher, a three-time Olympian who podiumed for a bronze medal in 2006, said in the lawsuit Foley once used his fingers to penetrate her and tried to kiss her without permission when she was 19.
O’Malley alleged Foley did similar actions, too, by groping her and kissing her without her consent. She also said the ex-coach made multiple comments about her weight, which later caused her to have an eating disorder that altered her career.
Chythlook-Sifsof, who was an Olympian in 2010, broke the allegations publicly in an Instagram post in Feb. 2022. She said in the lawsuit when she was in her early teens Foley would make sexually explicit comments. Chythlook-Sifsof added Foley didn’t do anything when male teammates’ behavior was lewd and abusive.
Former USSS employee Lindsey Nikola launched a separate lawsuit on Thursday alleging Foley sexually assaulted her multiple times and forced her to take nude photos.
The plaintiffs are seeking an unspecified amount in damages. A USSS spokesperson said the organization is aware the lawsuits were filed but hasn’t had the opportunity to “fully review it.”
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