#9 Public Records (State, National, or International)

 

Mary Cain, a former track prodigy who is now suing  Nike along with her ex-coach for 20 million dollars for emotional abuse at an elite training program.

Cain started training at this Nike headquarters facility in 2012 in order to improve her distance running for international competitions. 

As soon as she turned 16 she joined the team and signed a contract as a professional Nike runner for the Nike Oregon Project. 


Cain filed the lawsuit on Monday against Nike and Alberto Salazar, her former coach and the one who ran the Nike Oregon Project. He was suspended because of this lawsuit and now the program is shut down. 

It was claimed in the lawsuit that Salzar "acted with knowledge that severe emotional distress was certain or substantionally certain to result from his conduct."

In a complaint made by an athlete said "Salazar told her that she was too fat and that her breast and bottom were too big." 

Cain's attourneys also said that "Salazar and other Nike employees often made sexist and objectifying comments about female athletes, focusing on their appearance and weight, while they did not make similar comments to or regarding male athletes." 

Cain said that she was put on a diet that made her so hungry that she stole food from her teammates and would sneak into the bathroom to eat it. 

There was a complaint that stated that Salazar publicly made comments about her weight after she had won the 3,000 meter race in 2014 at the junior world championship, and first for an American woman.

Salazar apparently knew about Cain's developing eating disorder along with her cutting and he continued to degrade her for her panick attacks. 

This situation was first brought to public news in 2019 after Cain mentioned it in a seven minute video but at the time it was just under investigation. 

The New York Times revealed that Salazar sent in an email denying half of the claims that Cain reported. He said that "he had supported her health and welfare."

The project was shut down a year later and Salazar was banned for four years because of the allegations. Salazar appealed the ban which he lost this past month.

Nike said, "We don't comment on ongoing litigations. Nike is committed to positively affecting the future of sport for women and girls and we are doing more in space than ever before." 


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