$10 MILLION RACE DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST THE UNITED STATES OLYMPIC COMMITTEE

$10 MILLION RACE DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST THE UNITED STATES OLYMPIC COMMITTEE

WASHINGTON, June 17, 2004, 4:20 p.m. - According to the lawsuit filed today in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) is being sued for $10 million dollars for racial discrimination. The Plaintiff, Charles Arnell Smith, Jr. of Fort Washington, Maryland, is the current, reigning U.S. Taekwondo champion in two separate weight divisions. Mr. Smith is a 19 year old African American young man who was raised by both his mother and father around military bases throughout his life (as Mr. Smith’s father is a retired Master Sargent, with benefits, from the military). A cursory review of Mr. Smith’s background also indicates that Mr. Smith’s talents, related to Taekwondo, if left unfettered, would have rendered him the Tiger Woods of Taekwondo.

According to the lawsuit, since 1997, Mr. Smith has earned, among a myriad of other titles, 36 gold/first place titles and 10 silver titles in a variety of national and international Taekwondo competitions. According to the lawsuit, he is the 2004 United States National Champion/Team Member 118lb. Fin Weight Division and the 2004 United States Olympic Consolidate Weight Division Champion at 127lbs. According to the lawsuit, Mr. Smith has never been arrested, has never been convicted of or charged with a crime and has never even received a speeding ticket.

According to the lawsuit, based on his stellar, unparalleled record in Taekwondo, Mr. Smith signed a contract with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). The collective purpose of the contract was to afford Mr. Smith (and every other athlete in residence) all of the privileges of residency at the Olympic Training Complex (OTC) and delineate the rules off conduct associated with such residency, according to the lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, Mr. Smith was, by virtue of signing the contract, entitled to exercise all of the benefits, privileges, terms and conditions extended to him by the contract (among which was the right to use the training facilities).

According to the lawsuit, by virtue of beating Tim Thackery (the three-time United States Flyweight Champion (127 lbs.); 2004 Pan American Champion; 2004 World Champion Bronze Medal winner and National Team Member) and Peter Lopez (the three-time United States Bantam Weight Champion (136lbs); 2002 World Champion Silver Medalist; 2004 World Bronze Medalist and National Team Member), Plaintiff had positioned himself to become the number one seed in the Consolidated Olympic Weight Division (127 lbs.) in the United States. According to the lawsuit, after positioning himself to be the number one seed, it appeared from comments made by OTC staffers, that Plaintiff was not the preferred representative for the 127lb Consolidated Weight Division. According to the lawsuit, Tim Thackery and Peter Lopez were the preferred representatives.

According to the lawsuit, after positioning himself to be the number one seed, things changed in November of 2003, Plaintiff was falsely accused of “blowing through” the front gate at the OTC at 5:00 a.m., without stopping at the stop sign or checking in with the guard on duty and subsequently speeding away from gate, thereby preventing the officer on duty from identifying or reprimanding him and then allegedly parked and exited the vehicle and ran from the vehicle to his dorm room. According to the lawsuit, the officer on duty at the time described that the person who drove, exited and eventually ran from the vehicle was hooded, and was unidentifiable by face. According to the lawsuit, it is a fact of great interest that, in this post-September 11^{th (2001) era, a security officer, posted at an}^{Olympic Complex in the United States, would witness a hooded character speed
through the gates, exit a vehicle and run, without performing a room-by-room
search of the dormitory and without calling the police. According to the
lawsuit, the fact that the officer did not call the police or even investigate
the dormitory after the incident, means that he, and vicariously, the
department, failed to follow its own policies and procedures regarding such
matters.}

^{According to the lawsuit, Mr. Cody Aguirre, the white OTC
resident who actually admitted to the infraction, was not disciplined or treated
the same way as Mr. Smith was treated. In fact, Mr. Aguirre was never
even disciplined or punished for his admitted infraction, according to
the lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, in a Supplemental Report Mr. George, the
head of security specifically stated that he knew that Plaintiff “was not the
person who ran the gate that night” and that he knew that it was Mr. Aguirre,
a white male who ran the gate. But, Mr. George still wrote that Plaintiff “still
must be disciplined,” according to the lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, Mr.
Aguirre was never disciplined and was still allowed to train at the facility and
no adverse or disciplinary action was taken against Mr. Aguirre, in spite of his
admission to the violation. According to the lawsuit, plaintiff was informed
that he had to leave the premises by 5:00 p.m. on November 15, 2003, so he
packed all of the belongings that he had amassed over his two year residence at
the OTC. Plaintiff packed all of his belongings into his 2002 Hyundai Accent and
left the OTC, embarrassed and humiliated. Plaintiff’s friends
watched him drag his items the long distance from his room to his car, according
to the lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, in a second count of unlawful
discrimination, Mr. Smith was reprimanded and disciplined for
allegedly attempting to enter the OTC facility as (with the use of another
athlete’s Access Card). Upon commencement of residency at the OTC every
athlete is required to sign the above-referenced USOC contract. Within the
contract’s code of conduct, exists a provision that prohibits an athlete’s
use or lending of an OTC security access card that was issued to another
athlete. According to the lawsuit Ms. Sarah Drury even stated the security that
the allegations were not true. According to the lawsuit, Ms. Sarah Drury, the white
female resident who admittedly accompanied Mr. Smith (operating under
color of the same USOC contract signed by the Mr. Smith) was neither
reprimanded nor disciplined for her attempted entry and access card use with
Mr. Smith. According to the lawsuit she even stated to the head of security that
the allegations were not true.

According to the lawsuit, as a result of being unfairly denied
access to and barred from the Olympic training facilities, Mr. Smith has been
continuously deprived of invaluable access to Olympic training equipment and his
National Team teammates. As such, Mr. Smith’s pursuit of Olympic gold in 2004
has taken away unjustly. According to the lawsuit, but for defendants actions,
Plaintiff would have been able to pursue endorsement deals and other financial
opportunities outside of Taekwondo, because at the very least, he would have
been a member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team, and quite possibly, the 2004
Olympic Champion in his weight division.
^{Mr. Smith is being represented by prominent civil rights
attorney Jimmy A. Bell, Esquire and The Law Office of Jimmy A. Bell, P.C.}

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