The athletes alleged that International Water Polo Club and the national governing organization for the sport failed to protect them from abuse by coach Bahram Hojreh.
LOS ANGELES — A dozen female water polo players who accused their coach of sexual abuse will split nearly $14 million after settling a lawsuit against USA Water Polo and a California club.
“We have heard the plaintiffs’ testimony, and their allegations are heartbreaking,” Christopher Ramsey, CEO of USA Water Polo, said in a statement. “We hope that this allows them to begin a new chapter in their lives.” “It’s the most absurd way to say we’re responsible for these clubs, but we’re not responsible,” he said. “USA Water Polo’s failures in this respect were just as culpable as the club’s.”
“He’d get in the pool and tell the girls, ‘This is what’s going to happen in college. You need to get used to this,’” Stewart said. “Then he’d reach under their swimsuits and assault them.” In a court filing, USA Water Polo said it forwarded those complaints from June and July 2017 to the U.S. Center for SafeSport, the watchdog formed in 2017 to handle sex-abuse cases in the Olympic realm.
Hojreh has been permanently banned from water polo by SafeSport. He’s one of 10 people affiliated with USA Water Polo banned from the sport since 2018 due to criminal matters.
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