Female swimmer sues UMBC alleging failure to protect her despite reporting sexual abuse and harassment
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Swimming atmosphere affected by coach at UMBC
Deceased swimming coach Chad Cradock is in the news for all the wrong reasons. The federal lawsuit which was filed last week stated that the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) did nothing to protect the young swimmer.
Despite revealing to her coach that she was sexually abused and harassed by her abusive partner – the University tried its best to put the case under the bed. University and Cradock parted ways in 2020 after which the coach committed suicide the following year.
Now after a couple of months of an internal investigation, it has now come to light that a young woman swimmer indeed had to go through sexual harassment and gender discrimination. The female swimmer who filed the lawsuit against the University has since graduated.
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Cradock created indeed created a hostile atmosphere
The law firm also went on to say that – the deceased coach created a hostile atmosphere during his tenure with UMBC and sexually harassed students
“UMBC told [the plaintiff] it ‘didn’t want this to be a mess on the (UMBC swim) team,’” the plaintiff’s attorney, Rignal W. Baldwin V, wrote in the complaint.
“For the remainder of her undergraduate career, the plaintiff was forced to see her abuser on campus daily, at swim team activities, in classes, and at her dormitory, until graduation.”
The plaintiff, whose name is not revealed for obvious reasons also went on to state the fact that her relationship with the male swimmer who was also part of a UMBC team turned into an abusive and bad one. Not only that she was also sexually harassed and stalked, and continuous messages were sent to her on the phone and on her social media accounts.
According to the same complaint – the deceased coach also threatened her that there will be severe consequences if she takes the matter to the University and that will eventually lead to the end of her career.
Cradock was a coach for UMBC’s swimming and diving team for 19 seasons and was a successful one as well. The team under him won four consecutive men’s and four of the last six women’s competitions before he resigned.
“UMBC’s Title IX process prioritizes the school’s reputation over student safety,” Baldwin told The Baltimore Sun last week. “Until that changes, no amount of procedural reform will make a difference.”
On the other hand, a UMBC spokesman said that university officials only got to know about the possible court order from the media but haven’t received it yet and that’s why they won’t be able to comment on it. “UMBC remains focused on our ongoing efforts to build a community where sexual violence and misconduct are never acceptable,” officials said.
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