Press Release:
Twelve Youth Executive Committee Members Exonerated
After nearly nine months of costly litigation, USATF Track & Field (USATF) was ordered by an internal Grievance Panel to fully reinstate 12 members of the Youth Executive Committee.
The ruling came after USATF summarily suspended the entire committee—without notice or an opportunity to be heard—on May 25, 2016, for protesting the National Office’s selection of an online registration provider for Youth National Championships without any input from the Youth Committee.
The 12 Youth Executive Committee members (Ron Mascarenas, Kenneth Ferguson, Dorothy Dawson, Linda Ellis, Linda Phelps, Norine Richardson, Henry McCallum, David Reinhardt, Inez Finch, Marc Jones, Mary Elizabeth Aude, and Jacqueline White) are fully reinstated. The Grievance Panel found that USATF had failed to prove its case against each of them.
Despite the Grievance Panel’s ruling, USATF continues its civil suit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana seeking money damages based on the same allegations.
Due to the frivolous nature of USATF’s civil suit, USATF may be responsible to the volunteers for their fees, costs, and other penalties.
USATF recently moved to dismiss its claims against Richardson, McCallum, and Dawson. The Court will now determine if USATF must pay these individuals’ costs associated with the litigation brought by USATF.
The Panel suspended Lionel Leach, the former Chair of the Youth Executive Committee, for an additional 97 days, until May 24, 2017. Leach intends to appeal his suspension.
The Panel also found that the USATF National Office is responsible for managing all commercial aspects of USATF, a fact that was never disputed by Leach or any of the Committee members.
The Panel denied the remainder of the grievance against Leach, finding that USATF failed to follow USATF Article 18-I, which requires that the contents of all contracts affecting sports committees be communicated to the committees during the negotiation phase.
USATF Regulation 15 places jurisdiction of all youth competitions with the Youth Executive Committee. This Regulation was passed by the membership of USATF and is the subject of an action for Declaratory Judgment in the Indiana District Court case.