AUSTIN, Texas - Three former student-athletes from UT Austin have filed a class-action lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), the NCAA Board of Governors, and John Rembao, the former track and cross-country coach at UT Austin and other NCAA universities.
The lawsuit, filed by law firms FeganScott and Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, has alleged that the NCAA facilitated a national epidemic by perpetuating a cycle of abuse.
According to a press release from the law firms, former UT Coach Rembao's "pattern of predatory behavior" is just a single example of related behavior of coaches who have sexually abused athletes. The complaint alleges that the former athletes, who attended UT Austin between the years 1998 and 2000, were "systematically groomed by Rembao in full view of college officials, who were made aware of the abuse and failed to implement and enforce rules prohibiting sexual relations and abuse by athletic department personnel," stated the release.
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The complaint further mentions that the lack of NCAA rules that mandate sexual abuse reporting allowed Coach Rembao to hold positions at multiple NCAA schools and "continue the harassment of his victims."
According to the press release, the NCAA chose not to implement rules or impose any sanctions that would require schools to take steps to prevent and report abuse by coaches or deter and perpetrators of sexual abuse.
“Rembao used textbook maneuvers to manipulate these young athletes into getting what he wanted,” said FeganScott founding partner and managing member Beth Fegan. “Make no mistake, this was a gross violation of his power over these student-athletes, and Rembao continually used the coach-athlete dynamic to his advantage—threatening to strip them of their scholarships and insisting on ‘closed-door’ meetings—behavior that was, in effect, sanctioned by the NCAA because of its lack of regulations to protect student-athletes from such misconduct.”
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The allegations against Rembao note instances of sexual assault which included meetings in his office where he would rub his erection on a student-athlete. There are also allegations of digital penetration and genital inspection and at least one case in which Rembao entered the plaintiff's dorm while she was sleeping and inappropriately touched her and kissed her legs.
"The most appalling part about this case is that one of the plaintiffs filed an official complaint at UT-Austin, and officials ruled that Rembao’s actions, like licking her neck, or coming into her room and pulling back her sheets while she slept, were not ‘sexual in nature,’” said Fegan. “This is exactly the kind of abominable decision that could have been avoided, had the NCAA mandated reporting to an NCAA ombudsman and independent investigation. Without NCAA rules prohibiting sexual contact between coaches and student-athletes, we see an unregulated member institution shamefully attempt to undercut the agency of the victims while allowing the perpetrator to move unchecked among schools. And Rembao is certainly not the only predator that has taken advantage of NCAA’s lax rules.”
Rembao is also alleged of verbal abuse and public shaming as well as regualting student-athletes nutrition to the point of causing easting disorders.
The press release states that the suit is an attempt to hold NCAA officials accountable for failing to foster a safe environment for student-athletes and for not imposing appropriate sanctions on schools and coaches after learning of sexually inappropriate behavior.
“The magnitude of this case is truly staggering,” said Fegan. “What we’re trying to do is break the isolation created by abusive coaches in the hopes of protecting other athletes. We know that without NCAA controls, perpetrators move among schools without recrimination – this is a system we need to radically rebuild to ensure student-athletes have the full support and resources of independent NCAA officials at their disposal,” said Fegan.
According to the release, the suit is seeking "retribution for class members’ significant physical and emotional distress and aims to hold the governing collegiate body accountable for failing in its duty to keep student-athletes safe." The suit is also seeking to implement "significant and meaningful reforms" to ensure standards of behavior are adhered to by the athletic department faculty and their coaches to guarantee the safety of every student-athlete in the future.
“Because the NCAA allows coaches who are known predators to continue to work at its member institutions, we feel the urgency to shine a light on the NCAA’s willful ignorance and establish appropriate safeguards,” said Lieff Cabraser partner Annika K. Martin, who co-represents the plaintiffs in the suit. “These former student-athletes are taking a stand in the face of trauma, and it’s our goal to eradicate any semblance of power-based sexual coercion happening at institutions to make sure universities are a safe place for all.”
You can read the full 116-page complaint below: