Filing # 43146151 E-Filed 06/23/2016 01:51:20 PM

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 9rn

JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR
ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA

CIVIL DIVISION

SARAH POWERS-BARNHARD,

Plaintiff,

vs.

AMATEUR ATHLETIC UNION OF THE

UNITED STA TES, INC.

Defendant,

COMPLAINT AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL

Plaintiff SARAH POWERS-BARNHARD ("Plaintiff') sues Defendant AMATEUR

ATHLETIC UNION OF THE UNITED STATES, INC. ("AAU" or "Defendant"), and states as

follows:

JURISDICTION, PARTIES & VENUE

1. This is an action for damages that exceed fifteen thousand dollars ($15 ,000.00),

exclusive of costs, interest, and attorney' s fees. This is also an action for declaratory and injunctive

relief and punitive damages.

2. Plaintiff is a natural person, who at all relevant times has been, and continues to be,

a domicile and resident of Florida. Plaintiff was a star volleyball player in high school, college, at

the Junior Olympics, and was selected to be on the U.S. Women' s National Volleyball Team.

Plaintiff was selected for the Mid-Atlantic Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2016. She is now the

director and a coach at Powers Volleyball Club in Florida.

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3. Defendant is a New York non-profit corporation with its principal place of business

at 1910 Hotel Plaza Boulevard, Lake Buena Vista, Florida 32830.

4. Venue is proper in this Court under Fla. Stat. 47.011.

SUMMARY OF FACTS

5. From 1982 through 1984, Rick Butler ("Butler"), a volleyball coach with the Sports

Performance Rehabilitation Institute Inc. and Sports Performance Volleyball Club, sexually

molested Plaintiff while he was her coach and she was a star volleyball player and member of the

Sports Performance Rehabilitation Institute Inc. and Sports Performance Volleyball Club teams.

Butler sexually molested Plaintiff while practicing for and participating in volleyball competitions

that were sponsored and sanctioned by the AA U.

6. To this day, despite knowing that Butler sexually molested Plaintiff and other

minor girls who were volleyball players on his teams, the AAU still allows Butler to coach junior

girls ' volleyball teams where he has unsupervised contact with and power over minor girls.

7. In 1995, due to reports of his sex abuse of his female players, USA Volleyball

banned Butler from coaching or otherwise participating in USA Volleyball sponsored or

sanctioned events; however, in 2000, USA Volleyball readmitted Butler to participate in events in

an administrative capacity.

8. Butler currently sponsors and/or coaches a girls' volleyball team that will compete

at the 43rd AAU Girls' Junior National Volleyball Championships in June 2016 at the

Disney/ESPN sports facility in Orange County, Florida.

9. Plaintiff is a volleyball coach in Jacksonville, Florida, whose team has qualified to

compete at the 43rd AAU Girls ' Junior National Volleyball Championships in June 2016 at the

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Disney/ESPN sports facility in Orange County, Florida. Plaintiff is unable to shepherd her team

to a national title without having to see and/or be in contact with Butler-her sexual abuser.

10. In 1995, Plaintiff was asked to testify at a hearing about sexual misconduct of

Butler.

11. As a direct consequence of Butler' s sexual misconduct, Plaintiff has received

treatment for a depressive disorder and continues in psychotherapy to address the effects of

Butler' s repeated sexual abuse of Plaintiff as a young girl.

12. In 2015 , ESPN Outside the Lines published a story reporting that Plaintiff had been

abused by Butler, but that he was still coaching girls. Despite that widely-publicized story, Butler

continues to coach, mentor, and endanger those in his care.

13. Upon information and belief, the AAU knows that it has a duty to remove Butler

from his position of coaching underage girls, but has failed to do so. Plaintiff was asked to sign

up for the "SafeSport" program as a condition of being a volleyball coach, despite the fact that the

AAU permitted Butler to continue to coach girls at AAU events.

BACKGROUND FACTS

AAU/Junior Olympics

14. The AAU is a multi-sport organization dedicated to the promotion and development

of amateur sports and physical fitness programs, whose participants are minors.

15. The AAU sponsors and sanctions athletic events.

16. The AAU is comprised of members. Membership in the AAU is a privilege and

not a right. The AAU has sole discretion in determining whether to accept or reject a club or

individual as a member.

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17. Each club and individual must apply for membership in the AAU each year.

18. There are three categories of AAU members. A "District Member" is an

organization chartered by the AAU Congress to provide administrative services within a

designated geographic area. A "Club Member" is an organization or group that has been approved

for membership. An "Individual Member" is a person who has been approved for membership by

the AAU. Individual Members are divided into Youth Athlete, Adult Athlete and Non-Athlete.

19. At all relevant times, Plaintiff has been a coach with a team competing at AAU

Volleyball tournaments.

20. Upon information and belief, and at all relevant times, Sports Performance

Volleyball Club was a Club Member of the AAU.

21. Upon information and belief, and at all relevant times, Butler, as a coach, was a

Non-Athlete Individual Member of the AAU.

22. The AAU Congress has the responsibility to impose and enforce penalties for

violation of the AAU Code.

23. It is a violation of the AAU Code to engage in sexual misconduct.

24. Upon information and belief, in 1982, there were a number of AAU Districts. Each

AAU District had District Officers. Those District Officers were Governor, Lieutenant Governor,

Registrar, Secretary, and Treasurer. The Registrar is responsible for reviewing and then approving

or denying applications for membership. The Registrar is also responsible for monitoring all

District events to assure compliance with AAU requirements.

25 . Upon Information and belief, and at all relevant times, Sports Performance

Volleyball Club was in the AAU Central District.

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26. The AAU sponsors and sanctions the Junior Olympics.

27. The AAU National Sports Committee is responsible for the conduct of the National

Junior Olympics.

28. Athletes participating in the National Junior Olympics are required to use the

housing provided by the host of the National Junior Olympics. AAU selects the host of the

National Junior Olympics.

29. In 1983, the Volleyball Junior Olympics finals were held m Los Angeles,

California, at the University of California, Los Angeles ("UCLA").

30. As a member of the Sports Performance Volleyball Club Team and a member of

the AAU, Plaintiff participated in the 1983 Junior Olympics at UCLA.

31. As part of the 1983 Junior Olympics at UCLA, Plaintiff spent the nights during the

tournament in the UCLA dormitories.

32. As the sponsor of the 1983 Junior Olympics at UCLA, the AAU was responsible

for the supervision of Plaintiff, who was a minor.

33. During the 1983 Junior Olympics at UCLA, Butler had sexual contact with

Plaintiff, who was a minor.

COUNT I
(VIOLATION OF FLORIDA DECEPTIVE AND
UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES ACT)

34. Plaintiff repeats and incorporates by reference the allegations contained in paragraphs

1 through 33 above as if fully stated herein.

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35. The AAU has engaged in unfair and deceptive acts by soliciting and collecting

membership fees; while allowing Butler, who has engaged in sexual misconduct as defined by the

AAU to remain as a member. In the AAU' s written solicitations for membership, its handbook, and

Code, the AAU deceptively promotes the idea that it is the policy of the AAU "to deny

participation in the AAU to any individual for whom there is reasonable cause to believe that

they have engaged in sexual misconduct." (Section I. E. 2. Sexual Misconduct, of the AAU)

(emphasis added).

36. In addition, Section I. E. 2. , Subparagraphs c. and d. , of the AAU Code provides

that "reasonable cause" for denial of membership exists when:

c. Written allegations of sexual misconduct against the

individual of reasonable probative value have been
submitted to the AAU; or

d. The individual has been accused of sexual misconduct and

the accusations have reasonable probative value.

37. In addition, The AA U Children Protection Handbook defines Sexual Misconduct

as:

Sexual Misconduct
(1) Any touching or non-touching sexual interaction that is (a) nonconsensual or
forced, (b) coerced or manipulated, or (c) perpetrated in an aggressive,
harassing, exploitative or threatening manner
(2) Any sexual interaction between an athlete and an individual with evaluative,
direct or indirect authority. Such relationships involve an imbalance of power
and are likely to impair judgment or be exploitative
(3) Any act or conduct described as sexual abuse or misconduct under federal or
state law (e.g. sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, rape)

Note: An imbalance of power is always assumed between a coach and an

athlete.

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Sexual misconduct includes sexual assault, sexual harassment, sexual abuse and
any other sexual intimacies that exploit an athlete. Minors cannot consent to
sexual activity with an adult, and all sexual interaction between an adult and a
minor is strictly prohibited.

38. Based upon the foregoing, the AAU assured its members that upon a reasonable

showing any individual who was believed to have engaged in sexual misconduct was to be denied

participation in the AAU. That is a false and deceptive statement.

39. The AAU solicits membership fees from its members utilizing the false and

deceptive statements set forth above.

40. The statements of the AAU set forth above are "unconscionable acts or practices, or

unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce" within the meaning

and scope of Fla. Stat. 501.204(1 ).

41. Plaintiff has retained undersigned counsel and is obligated to them for their reasonable

attorney's fees.

WHEREFORE Plaintiff demands judgment against Defendant as follows:

(a) awarding plaintiff compensatory damages;

(b) entry of a declaratory judgment finding and declaring that the above
enumerated statements are deceptive and are false acts and practices
within the meaning of Fla. Stat. 501.207(l)(a);

(c) entry of an injunction enjoining Defendant from its dissemination of

the false and deceptive statements enumerated herein;

(d) awarding Plaintiff her reasonable attorney's fees; and

(e) such other and further relief as this Court deems just and proper.

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COUNT II
(NEGLIGENCE)

41. Plaintiff repeats and incorporates by reference the allegations contained in paragraphs

1 through 33 above as if fully stated herein.

42. The AAU had a duty to use ordinary care to protect Plaintiff from foreseeable harm

while Plaintiff was a minor participating in volleyball events and practices. The AAU also has a

duty to protect Plaintiff as an adult and coach from having direct contact with her known sexual

abuser.

43. Plaintiffs care, welfare, and/or physical custody were temporarily entrusted to the

AAU, and the AAU accepted the entrusted care of Plaintiff. As such, the AAU owed Plaintiff, a

minor, a special duty of care that adults entrusted with children have to protect them from harm.

Having failed to fulfill that duty, the AAU has negligently permitted Butler to continue to occupy

the top levels of the volleyball universe, making it extremely stressful for Plaintiff to fulfill her

calling to be a winning and successful volleyball coach and to use the volleyball skills she has

honed over the decades.

44. Butler was able, by virtue of his unique authority and position as one of the leading

volleyball coaches in the United States, to identify vulnerable victims to sexually abuse; to

manipulate his authority to procure compliance with his sexual demands from his victims; to

induce victims to continue to allow the abuse; and to coerce his victims to not report the sexual

abuse to any other persons or authorities. Butler is now able to re-inflict those injuries on Plaintiff

at each tournament.

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45. As a volleyball coach, Butler had and continues to have unique access to the

physical facilities where practices and events are conducted, and Butler has used said facilities as

a resource to sexually abuse minors, including Plaintiff, participating in his volleyball program.

46. The AAU, by and through its agents, servants, and employees, lacked reasonable

policies to protect its child athletes from sexual abuse by coaches then and now.

47. The AAU, by and through its agents, servants, and employees, knew or should

reasonably have known of Butler's dangerous and exploitive propensities and/or that Butler was

an unfit agent, and that he should have been removed in 1995, long before this year' s tournament.

48. It was foreseeable that if the AAU did not adequately exercise its special duty of

care owed to minors, including Plaintiff, then the children entrusted to the AAU would be

vulnerable to sexual abuse by coaches, including Butler, and that Butler' s victims would suffer

depression and other psychological ailments because of the AAU's failure to remove him from the

competitive volleyball world.

49. The AAU breached its duty of care to Plaintiff, when she was a minor, by allowing

Butler to have unsupervised contact with Plaintiff, and by failing to adequately supervise or

negligently retaining Butler, who the AAU permitted and enabled to have access to Plaintiff. The

AAU further breached its duty of care by holding Butler out to Plaintiff and her parents as

trustworthy and safe. And the AAU has now again breached their duty of care to Plaintiff as an

adult and coach.

50. The AAU' s breaches of its duties are the direct and proximate cause of Plaintiffs

mJunes.

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Southeast Financial Center 200 S. Biscayne Blvd . Suite 900 Miami, FL 33131
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51. As a direct result of the AAU' s negligent conduct, Plaintiff has suffered damages,

including physical, mental, emotional, and financial injuries.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands that judgment be entered against the AAU for
compensatory damages, interest, and any other relief the Court deems proper.

JURY TRIAL REQUEST

Plaintiff requests a jury trial on all counts of this Complaint.

WEIL QUARANTA, P.A.

200 South Biscayne Boulevard
Southeast Financial Center, Suite 900
Miami, Florida 33131
T: 305.372.5352

::y~
Ronald P. Weil (FBN 169966)
R Weil@weilguaranta.net
Michael D. Padula (FBN 314810)
MPadula@weilguaranta.net

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T: (305) 372-5352 F: (305) 372-5355