Distance runner Mary Cain, whose career fizzled after what she has called four miserable years at the Nike Oregon Project, has filed a $20 million lawsuit against her former coach, Alberto Salazar, and their employer, Nike.
Cain accused Salazar of emotionally abusing her when she joined the team in 2012 at age 16, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. The lawsuit portrays Salazar as an angry control freak who was obsessed with Cain's weight and publicly humiliated her about it.
That, she said, took a toll on her physical and mental health. Nike was aware but failed to intervene, according to the lawsuit.
Nike did not return messages from the newspaper seeking comment. Salazar could not be reached but has previously denied abuse allegations, and has said neither Cain nor her parents raised concerns while she was part of the program.
In the lawsuit filed Monday in Multnomah County Circuit Court, Cain alleges Salazar on several occasions required her to get on a scale in front of others and would then criticize her. Salazar also policed Cain's food intake, she said. At times, Cain was so hungry, she said, she stole energy bars from teammates.
Cain went to her parents for support and alleges Salazar eventually tired of the parental interference. By 2019, Cain says she was depressed, had an eating disorder, generalized anxiety and was cutting herself.
"Nike was letting Alberto weight-shame women, objectify their bodies, and ignore their health and wellbeing as part of its culture," said Kristen West McCall, a Portland lawyer representing Cain. "This was a systemic and pervasive issue. And they did it for their own gratification and profit."
In 2019, Cain told The New York Times in a video essay that she was emotionally and physically abused while in the program. Nike at the time called the allegations deeply troubling and said it would look into them.
Salazar helped found the Nike Oregon Project to make American distance runners competitive with the rest of the world.
The Nike Oregon Project was disbanded in 2019 after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency accused Salazar of three violations. The agency banned him from the sport for four years.
Salazar appealed to the Court for Arbitration for Sport. Last month, the court upheld Salazar's four-year ban from the sport and some of USADA's findings. It ruled that Salazar attempted an "intentional and orchestrated scheme to mislead" anti-doping investigators when he tampered with evidence.
“Scandal” cast will reunite for online script reading for hurricane relief in western North Carolina
The cast of ABC's hit political drama "Scandal" may need to brush up on their snappy, speedy delivery known as "Scandal-pace," because they're reuniting for a good cause. Its stars including Kerry Washington, Tony Goldwyn and Bellamy Young will take part in a live virtual script reading on Nov. 17 to raise money for hurricane relief in western North Carolina.
Beginning Friday, fans can go online and donate to reserve a spot for the online reading. Proceeds will benefit United Way of North Carolina. Everyone who donates will be able to take part in a virtual pre-event with the cast and Shonda Rhimes will give an introduction.
Additional guest stars will also be announced. The online fundraising platform Prizeo is also holding a contest where one person who donates online via their site will be selected to read a role from the script with the actors. The winner should not worry about the "Scandal"-pace, assured Young over Zoom.
"Whomever the lucky reader is can read at whatever pace they want," she said.
Young, who played Mellie Young, the first lady and later Republican presidential nominee on "Scandal," was born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina. She came up with the idea for the effort with a friend and took it to her fellow "Scandal" actors, who all jumped on board. Young said this is the first script reading the cast has all done together since the show ended after seven seasons in 2018.
Which episode they will be reading has not been announced yet.
Young said it's "been devastating" to see so many parts of her hometown badly damaged by Hurricane Helene, which ravaged western North Carolina one month ago.
To research the best use for donations, Young spoke with numerous political leaders, including North... Read More