$60 Million Judgment for Three Taekwondo Athletes Abused by Coach Marc Gitelman

Yazmin Brown, Kendra Gatt, and Brianna Bordon began training in competitive taekwondo as teenagers under coach Marc Gitelman, a top-ranked Las Vegas instructor known as 'Master G.' From 2007 through 2014, Gitelman abused each of them during competition travel, providing alcohol to the minors in hotel rooms and assaulting them at dorms inside Olympic Training Center facilities. The abuse continued over years while Gitelman maintained his standing as an elite coach within the national governing structure of the sport.

Estey and Bomberger filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court in 2015, naming Gitelman, USA Taekwondo, and the U.S. Olympic Committee as defendants. Gitelman had by then been convicted of related crimes and was serving a prison sentence. After he failed to respond adequately to the civil lawsuit, the court entered him in default.

In August 2017, the Los Angeles Superior Court awarded the three women $60 million. Steve Estey, who argued on their behalf, noted publicly that competition events continued to trigger trauma responses in the survivors years after the abuse ended. One plaintiff had come within reach of qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympics before her career was derailed.

The trial court dismissed the claims against USA Taekwondo and the USOC. Estey and Bomberger appealed. The case reached the California Supreme Court, which issued a unanimous decision in April 2021, holding that sports organizations governing youth activities have an affirmative legal duty to protect athletes from sexual and other abuse. The court revived the negligence claims against USA Taekwondo after finding the organization had a 'special relationship' with both Gitelman and the athletes he coached. Claims against the USOC were not reinstated, the court finding insufficient organizational proximity to give rise to the same duty.

Because Gitelman has no meaningful assets, recovery of the $60 million from him was not expected. The 2021 Supreme Court ruling, however, opened the path to holding the national governing body accountable and established precedent affecting all 61 national governing bodies overseeing Olympic sports in California.