Simone Biles Listed as Plaintiff in Nassar Abuse Case for the First Time

Dr. Larry Nassar, the former national medical coordinator for USA Gymnastics, is sitting in prison for the next 230 years after being found guilty of federal child porn and seven counts of sexual assault. But more than 140 women Nassar assaulted during his time as a doctor with Michigan State and USA Gymnastics are still waiting for compensation and clarity as to just how many people knew—and whether they did anything to prevent—what Nassar was doing. Currently, several gymnasts are suing USAG, as well as the US Olympic and Paralympic Committees, in a civil case, arguing that the organizations did not do enough to prevent Nassar’s abuse despite allegedly being told that it was taking place. For the first time, Simone Biles’s name appears on the list of plaintiffs in a motion that was filed on Monday, ESPN reports.

In February 2018, USAG, which filed for bankruptcy after being sued by more than 300 plaintiffs over alleged failures to report Nassar, proposed a $215 million settlement to be divided amongst Nassar’s victims on a sliding scale. According to this proposal, which was vehemently rejected, gymnasts at the elite Olympic level would receive more money from the settlement than gymnasts who stopped competing after college. The proposed settlement also contained a caveat that would have prevented Nassar’s victims from seeking any further action against USAG and the USOPC. It was around this time that Biles shared on Twitter that despite not being involved in the original case, she was a survivor of Nassar’s abuse.

This latest motion requests testimony from “Susanne Lyons, the current chair of the USOPC; Scott Blackmun, the organization’s former CEO; and Alan Ashley, the former chief of sport performance,” according to ESPN. Blackmun and Ashley were allegedly made aware of Nassar’s abuse in 2015 but, according to the filing, failed to take any action to protect gymnasts. Blackmun resigned from the USOPC in 2018 and received a $2.4 million buyout, ESPN reports. Ashley was terminated the same year.

Simone Biles is still training to represent Team USA at the pending Tokyo Olympics as USAG, and the Olympic Committee continues to deny Nassar’s victims transparency in what was and was not known by those in charge.