Tennis, never seen compensation like this. Shock sentence: there was nothing that could be done for him, merciless verdict
In March 2022, the tennis player Kylie McKenzie he had made some rather serious accusations against a coach. His name was Anibal Aranda, worked as an employee at the USTA, the national governing body of sport, for approximately 7 years, until he was fired for the facts attributed to him. The man was in fact guilty, according to the girl, of sexually assaulting her. His statements, as can easily be understood, had raised an unprecedented uproar.
A federal court in Florida took charge of the case, which also ended up involving the US Tennis Association. The verdict was merciless. The jury agreed, to begin with, with McKenzie, who accused the association of failing to protect her from the coach even though it was clear, so she claims, that sexually abused of her since she was little more than a teenager. Furthermore, the athlete was paid 9 million dollars in damages. Justice, in short, was done in the space of just two years.
For the tennis player, who is now 25 years old and who in 2016 had achieved position number 33 on the circuit, it is the end of a nightmare. “I couldn’t be happier with the result. I feel comforted,” she admitted in an emailed statement late Tuesday from one of her attorneys, Amy Judkins. “It was very difficult – added the young champion – but now I feel that it was worth it. I hope I can be a example for other girls so that they can speak up even when it’s difficult.”
Tennis, justice has been done: the jury ruled in her favor
The facts were objective and the US District Court jury could only agree with her. Above all, she found it scandalous that the USTA continued to keep Aranda on its staff and let her work as a coach with the other girls, despite suspicions.
Precisely for this reason, the compensation was “double”. More were added to the 3 million that were initially planned to be allocated to the girl another 6, for punitive damages. “We are very pleased with the jury’s decision to award Ms. McKenzie for her pain and suffering – the tennis player’s lawyers commented – but above all we believe that the jury’s decision to award punitive damages sends the right message to all sports organizations , who must take the necessary measures to protect the athletes under their banner.”
The USTA, in doing so, will appeal, although it has partially admitted the error: “We sympathize with the plaintiff and what she endured. We have not – and have never – disputed his accusations against a coach”, it was said, only to then specify that he was not aware of the facts and that he had relieved Aranda of his duties as soon as it was discovered what crime he had been guilty of .
