Olympic Snowboarders Suing Former Coach, Federation, USOPC for Sex Trafficking

Three former members of the United States Ski and Snowboard teams have filed a lawsuit against their former coach, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, the national federation and its former CEO for alleged sex trafficking, sexual harassment, enabling and covering up repeated acts of sexual assault and misconduct.

Per ESPN's Alyssa Roenigk and Tisha Thompson, former Olympic bronze medalist Rosey Fletcher, former Olympian Callan Chythlook-Sifsof and former U.S. national team member Erin O'Malley filed the suit in the United States District Court in Los Angeles.

Peter Foley, who was removed as U.S. Ski and Snowboard coach in March 2022 amid allegations of sexual misconduct, was alleged to have used his position of power to "coerce sexual acts through force, manipulation, emotional abuse, intimidation, and retaliation."

"O'Malley alleges she was 'sexually assaulted and harassed at USSS- and USOPC-sponsored competitions by Foley, who exploited their unequal power dynamic,'" Roenigk and Thompson wrote. "O'Malley said in the lawsuit that Foley began mentally and verbally abusing her when she was 15 and sexually assaulted her in an elevator, in Fletcher's presence, after a competition."

Chythlook-Sifsof said in the lawsuit she was "sexually assaulted and raped by a male coach nearly three times her age from an opposing team" at the junior world championship in 2005 when she was 16.

"Although it was not a USSS coach that sexually assaulted Callan, USSS set the stage for the assault to occur and failed to change the toxic environment," the lawsuit said.

Roenigk and Thompson noted a separate lawsuit was filed on Thursday by former U.S. Ski and Snowboard employee against Foley, Shaw and the national federation. She alleged that Foley "coerced, sexually harassed, and sexually assaulted" her in hotel rooms at two World Cup ski events when she was still employed by the USSS.

Foley was accused of sexual assault and sexual misconduct in March 2022 by three former athletes and a former employee in a report by Roenigk and Thompson.

The report came after Chythlook-Sifsof wrote a series of Instagram posts in February accusing Foley of sexual harassment and taking "naked photos of female athletes for over a decade."

Prior to being removed as coach, USSS prohibited Foley from having one-on-one interactions with female athletes and going into the athletes village.

Roenigk and Thompson noted there is video that shows Foley hugging Lindsay Jacobellis after she won gold in the snowboard cross at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

The footage is part of the lawsuit, which alleges that "despite the suspension, video footage showed Foley in a restricted area at the finish line of the Women's Snowboard Cross event."

Fletcher, Chythlook-Sifsof and O'Malley are seeking an unspecified amount in damages in the lawsuit.

Fletcher won a bronze medal in the parallel giant slalom at the 2006 Olympics. Chythlook-Sifsof finished 21st in the snowboard cross event at the 2010 Games in Vancouver. O'Malley was a member of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard team from 1995-2001.