A federal judge from the Eastern District of New York has dismissed a $30 million slander lawsuit brought by the former coach of disgraced sprinters Marion Jones, Justin Gatlin and Tim Montgomery against the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, USADA.
In so ruling, the court found that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the claims by Trevor Graham, who alleged that USADA had slandered him when it said that he gave performance enhancing drugs to athletes, and connected him with the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative doping scandal.
The court noted that Graham was “contesting his eligibility to coach amateur athletes involved in Olympic sports,” which is “a remedy only available under the U.S. Amateur Sports Act.”
In 2008, Graham, who coached sprinters Marion Jones, Justin Gatlin and Tim Montgomery, was banned from coaching for life by USADA. In his complaint, he alleged that he was not given a proper hearing, an allegation that USADA disputed. The court sided with the defendant.
“He is contesting his eligibility to coach amateur athletes involved in Olympic sports, a remedy only available under the (U.S.) Amateur Sports Act,” the court wrote.
USADA Chief Executive Travis Tygart told the media that Graham’s suit was a “waste” of “everyone’s time and resources in his quest to avoid taking responsibility for cheating sport. Consequently, these claims are outside the subject matter jurisdiction of this court.”
Edward Williams of Stewart Occhipinti, LLP, who typically finds himself litigating against USADA, took the agency side after reading the instant opinion, agreeing with the judge that “the US District Court has no jurisdiction to consider this matter, and that Mr. Graham’s substantive allegations of lack of due process are indeed ‘baseless.’”
