A federal jury on Monday ordered the United States Tennis Association to pay $9 million to a young tennis hopeful who said the organization failed to protect her from sexual assault by a coach at its center training center in Florida.
Kylie McKenzie, a 25-year-old from Arizona who is trying to revive her career, sued the USTA in 2022 after the US Center for SafeSport found it “more likely than not” that she was assaulted by her coach when she was 19 and he was 34.
The trainer, Anibal Aranda, denied touching McKenzie inappropriately in 2018. He was suspended and later fired by the USTA, and as the organization investigated McKenzie’s claims, a USTA employee reported for the first time she had been groped by the trainer years earlier.
After a weeklong trial in U.S. District Court in Orlando, the jury deliberated only two and a half hours before awarding McKenzie $3 million in compensatory damages in the first phase of its verdict .
In its second phase, the jury awarded $6 million in punitive damages, determining that there was a conscious disregard for the rights and safety of others, taking into account in part the USTA’s attempts to keep McKenzie’s case kept silent.
“I feel validated,” McKenzie said Monday evening from Florida. “It was very hard but I feel now that it was worth it. I hope I can be an example for other girls to speak up even when it’s difficult.
In a statement, USTA spokesman Chris Widmaier said the organization would “pursue all avenues of appeal” although it was sensitive to what McKenzie endured. He moved quickly to fire the coach, he said.
“The court found that the USTA was liable because one of its employees – a non-athlete – had a duty to report to the USTA her own experience with this coach; an incident that was unknown until the USTA removed the coach. This creates a new and unreasonable expectation for victims, one that will deter them from coming forward in the future,” Widmaier said.
During two years of litigation, the USTA insisted it handled McKenzie’s case appropriately after she quickly reported friends, family, USTA officials and to law enforcement that he had placed a hand between her thighs after an escalation of physical contact.
Police took a statement from McKenzie, said there was probable cause for a battery charge, then turned the evidence over to local prosecutors, who opted not to pursue criminal charges. When McKenzie returned to the training center a few days later, a trainer told her to tell the others that she had been sick.
During depositions, a USTA lawyer questioned McKenzie about the number of sexual partners she had before the incident, the medications she had taken to treat anxiety and depression and the nature of his discussions with his therapist.
The lawyer asked the player’s mother, Kathleen McKenzie, if she knew her daughter had taken birth control pills and the morning after pill. During the trial, lawyers suggested McKenzie exaggerated the anxiety and depression she felt following the incident.
The types of questions and accusations, while common in trials focused on sexual abuse, have been widely criticized by victim advocates, who say they discourage women from coming forward when they are victims of abuse. .
“Their entire defense seemed to be based on victim shaming,” said Amy Judkins, McKenzie’s lead attorney. “It backfired on us.”
Pam Shriver, a Grand Slam doubles champion and television commentator who was the victim of sexual abuse by a coach during her career, also said that the USTA’s top lawyer, Staciellen Mischel, ‘had warned to “be careful” about her public statements about sexual relationships. abuse in tennis.
Shriver has become an ally of McKenzie since going public his own story of abuse in 2022.
When a lawyer representing the USTA in the McKenzie case asked Shriver if there was anyone at the USTA. had discouraged her from reporting sexual abuse, she responded: “It depends on how you interpret Staciellen’s conversation. Part of my interpretation was that I needed to be careful. And in this interpretation, we must not say too much.
Shriver told the story again during his trial testimony.
Widmaier previously said the USTA had deep sympathy for Shriver. “We will never stop anyone from telling their story,” he said.
The USTA has made its 50 years of leadership in equity and women’s empowerment a hallmark of its identity.
Judkins, however, said the jury responded to McKenzie’s request to send a clear message with his award.
“That message is that paying lip service to the protection of athletes is not acceptable,” Judkins said.
Robert Allard, another McKenzie lawyer and advocate for victims of sexual abuse in sports, said the jury made it clear that the USTA had failed to self-regulate.
“They don’t prioritize athletes,” said Allard, who previously received another lucrative settlement from the USTA in the case of Steven Gould, a junior tennis player, for its failure to protect him, as well as other players, against a leading coach for having worked. the children in the class. “There needs to be a complete change within the organization so that victims are not silenced but encouraged to come forward. »
(Photo of Kylie McKenzie at a tournament in March in Sao Paulo: Buda Mendes / Getty Images for ITF)