Kylie McKenzie, once a tennis prodigy, will receive $9 million in a federal lawsuit against the United States Tennis Association, where she claimed the organization failed to protect her from being sexually assaulted by her former coach at a training facility. in Florida in 2018, according to El Atlético.
Aníbal Aranda, then 34 years old, was McKenzie's coach when she was a 19-year-old prodigy from Arizona. McKenzie claimed in a 2022 lawsuit that Aranda had assaulted her on a back court at the USTA training center in Orlando.
McKenzie claimed the USTA failed to disclose that Aranda assaulted a former employee years before his own assault.
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Kylie Mckenzie returns a shot during the ITF World Tennis Tour W50 Sao Paulo at Clube Hífico de Santo Amaro on March 27, 2024 in Brazil. (Buda Mendes/Getty Images for ITF)
McKenzie's lawsuit was filed after the U.S. Center for SafeSport found that Aranda “most likely” touched her vagina over her clothing and groped her during the process of showing her a serving technique. 2018, according to The New York Times.
Since the assault, McKenzie said she suffers from panic attacks, anxiety and depression.
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McKenzie was awarded $3 million in compensatory damages and $6 million in punitive damages after a jury determined that “there was a conscious disregard for the rights and safety of others, due in part to the USTA's attempts to maintain McKenzie's case.” secretly,” according to The Athletic.
“I feel validated,” McKenzie, who is still trying to pursue a career in tennis, told The Athletic on Monday. “It was very difficult, but now I feel like it was worth it. I hope I can be an example for other girls to talk about even when it's hard.”
USTA spokesman Chris Widmaier said his organization “will pursue all avenues of appeal” in a statement that included sympathy for McKenzie.
Kylie Mckenzie during the ITF World Tennis Tour W50 Sao Paulo on March 27, 2024. (Buda Mendes/Getty Images for ITF)
“The court ruled that the USTA was liable because one of its employees, who was not an athlete, had an obligation to inform the USTA of her own experience with this coach, an incident that was unknown until after the USTA removed the coach. “This sets a new and unreasonable expectation for victims, which will deter them from coming forward in the future,” the statement reads.
However, McKenzie's attorney, Robert Allard, responded to Widmaier, saying the jury concluded that the USTA was not self-regulating.
“They don't put athletes first,” Allard said. “There needs to be a complete change in the organization so that victims are not silenced but encouraged to come forward.”
Kylie Mckenzie serves in the singles match against Maria Mateas during the ITF World Tennis Tour W50 Sao Paulo on March 27, 2024. (Buda Mendes/Getty Images for ITF)
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McKenzie joined the USTA full-time training team in California at age 12, and would win the U-16 national championship at age 15. When she was 18, she was transferred to the Orlando facility.
Aranda has denied touching McKenzie inappropriately in 2018.
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