UMBC Faces Lawsuit From Former Swimmers Alleging School Ignored, Covered Up Sexual Abuse
Six former swimmers have filed a lawsuit against the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC), alleging the university ignored and even covered up sexual harassment, abuse and discrimination by former head coach Chad Cradock, according to a Baltimore Sun report.
Cradock resigned in 2020 as UMBC head coach and committed suicide in March of 2021.
A university spokesperson said there also is an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice that is ongoing, according to the Sun.
The university began looking into conduct by Cradock in 2020. The final report, completed in July by an outside law firm found Cradock, “engaged in sexual harassment and created a hostile environment, in violation of the university’s discrimination policy.” In addition to the report, swimmers were interviewed by investigators from the U.S. Department of Justice during the initial investigation.
Among the findings was that Cradock engaged in inappropriate touching and harassment of members of the men’s team while disengaging his attention from the women’s team. The lawsuit filed this week involves the latter set of failures.
This is the second lawsuit in regard to the situation. The first was filed by an unidentified female swimmer. This suit has three male and three female plaintiffs.
According to the lawsuit, “UMBC was more than just complicit in Cradock’s misdeeds, in that its leadership ignored, covered up (and) minimized his misconduct,” and that the school, “knew of Cradock’s conduct since at least 2019, and failed to take any action.”
Read the full Baltimore Sun report here.