Three Paralympic athletes plan to file a discrimination lawsuit against the US Olympic Committee (USOC), alleging it does not provide equal benefits to disabled athletes.
Lawyers for wheelchair athletes Scot Hollonbeck, Tony Inguez and Jacob Heiveil said they will file the lawsuit in a Denver federal court on Monday morning.
The lawsuit alleges the USOC violates federal law by not providing the same benefits to Paralympians that Olympic athletes receive, including health insurance, grants, help with living expenses and opportunities to promote the Paralympics brand.
Attorney Amy Robertson said Sunday that the lawsuit will ask the USOC to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act. It will also seek compensatory damages for benefits and a breach of contract with a marketing company Hollonbeck created to promote the Paralympics.
”Their view tends to be that in a sense, Paralympians are second-class athletes; they’re too disabled for the real show, they’re too disabled to make it in the Olympics, which is a completely wrong-headed way of thinking about it,” said Robertson, who is representing the athletes. ”The Paralympic games are elite, highly competitive athletic events and are placed on equal footing in the law that created the USOC.
The main aspect of the lawsuit is funding for Paralympians.
The USOC spends $3,75-million annually and about three percent of the its quadrennial budget of $491,5-million on its Paralympic programme.
Robertson said that figure is too low and that Olympic athletes receive grants that Paralympic athletes don’t get. She also said the money Paralympians receive for winning medals is 10% of what Olympic athletes get.
USOC spokesperson Darryl Seibel said funding for US Paralympics has increased 100% from the previous quadrennial budget to $15-million for the 2001-04 budget and that it’s expected to go up another $5-million for 2005-08.
Seibel also said that the amount athletes are paid for winning medals differs because most events in the Paralympics have far more disciplines than the Olympics — 20 for its 100-meter races.
Money for medals at the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney was $110 000 and is expected to increase to $450 000 for Athens next summer, he said.
”We do more to support the Paralympics than any other national Olympic committee in the world,” Seibel said.
”In fact, we are the only national Olympic committee that has taken on the dual responsibility of serving as the national Paralympic committee. In most countries those are completely separate entities.”
The lawsuit also claims the USOC has virtually ignored the Paralympic trademark, which cuts off potential funding streams and keeps the Paralympics from becoming part of the national consciousness.
Seibel said most sponsors have indicated that they want their sponsorship deals to include both the Olympics and the Paralympics.
”An overwhelming number of Paralympic athletes have indicated to us that it is their strong preference to see Paralympic programmes integrated as part of the overall Olympic programme,” Seibel said.
”We’ve heard the same thing from our sponsors, many of whom have indicated that it is their preference to have the rights to Paralympic properties included as part of their overall Olympic sponsorship.”
The lawsuit also claims the USOC has not held up its end of a marketing contract with Vie Sports Marketing, which Hollonbeck helped form after the USOC decided to separate the Paralympics into a single brand in 2000.
Robertson said Vie Sports was told by USOC officials that it would be allowed to sell the Paralympic brand to top Olympic sponsors or their competitors, but the USOC gradually prevented them from doing so.
Seibel said the relationship with Vie Sports ended because the company didn’t fulfill the terms and conditions of the contract. – Sapa-AP