Six former University of Maryland, Baltimore County student-athletes say they will continue their lawsuits against the university, rejecting an initial settlement offer stemming from an agreement between the school and the U.S. Department of Justice.
The Justice Department found that the Catonsville research university failed to protect students from former head swim coach Chad Cradock’s sexual harassment and discrimination or adequately address reports of sexual assault. Cradock died in 2021 after resigning amid an investigation into his conduct.
In April, the university and the Justice Department entered into an agreement that requires the university to pay members of the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams who suffered sexual assault or sex discrimination.
Under the agreement, which will remain in effect through the 2028-2029 school year, the university also promised to strengthen its Title IX compliance office and provide more support to student-athletes and athletics staff, among other changes.
The Maryland Board of Public Works approved a $4.1 million settlement for two different categories of swimmers on the team during particular years who participated in the university’s investigation into Cradock or the Justice Department investigation.
Former swimmers who reported misconduct during the university’s Title IX investigation, including those Cradock sexually assaulted or who were “subjected to dating violence that coaching staff knew of and that the university did not adequately respond to” are eligible for $180,000 under the agreement. The athletes who sued UMBC fall into that group.
The university also agreed to pay $60,000 to student-athletes who Cradock sexually discriminated against.
In interviews with The Baltimore Sun, three of the swimmers called the offer they received “insulting” and “frustrating.” They said they want to proceed with the cases they filed together in both state and federal court so they can learn more details about the university’s failures and see individual officials held accountable.
Kacey Hammel, chief of staff to UMBC’s president, declined to comment on the litigation.
“UMBC is actively working to fulfill the terms of the agreement with the DOJ, and any questions about it should be directed to the DOJ,” Hammel said in an email.
A DOJ spokesperson did not respond Thursday to a request for comment.
UMBC President Valerie Sheares Ashby previously apologized to the students in a video posted after the Justice Department revealed its findings and said the university took full responsibility.
Investigators from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division determined that, between 2015 and 2020, UMBC failed to respond to allegations that Cradock filmed students while showering and touched male students on the pool deck and in the locker room. The university’s athletics department also failed to report dating violence by male swimmers against female teammates from 2016 and 2020, the department found.
If the six male and female swimmers agree to accept the payments offered under the settlement, they give up their legal claims against the university. The Sun does not name people who have been sexually abused or assaulted without their consent.
One female swimmer said the plaintiffs, who came forward about Cradock’s conduct, had a different experience than the other student-athletes who also are eligible for payments. She said the university offered them about the same amount, close to $180,000.
“We were subject to school officials and our own teammates calling us names, calling us murderers, and the amount of money that they’re offering us is just a Band-Aid on a wound that’s larger,” the female swimmer said.
Students who reported Cradock’s behavior said others blamed them for the coach’s suicide.
“It was a whole culture that we were brutalized within,” she said.
“There’s a number where I would be more than willing to walk away from this and leave people’s reputations intact,” said K, a former male swimmer who agreed to be identified by his first initial. “I want the answers more than the money. I want to know why they thought what they did was right or why they thought not protecting us was what they were supposed to do.”
A different male swimmer said he wanted to expose shortcomings in the university’s response to sexual assault and harassment that could harm future students and identify the individuals responsible.
“I would like to know exactly who failed me,” he said.
He said having filed a lawsuit — an option not available to former swimmers who waited too long to file claims — puts him in a “privileged” position because it allows him to exert more pressure for transparency on the university.
“I would regret not holding UMBC to the maximum accountability,” he said.
Rignal Baldwin V, an attorney representing the swimmers, said the university “fundamentally misunderstands” his clients’ motivations.
“They think that they’re looking for a check, and that might be part of it, but they’re looking to hold individuals accountable. That was part of the DOJ arrangement — that they would have to give up their opportunity to hold individuals accountable,” Baldwin said. “They have decided at this time that this doesn’t work for them and we as their attorneys stand by them.”
The agreement with the Justice Department also requires the university to update its Title IX policies, hire more staff, assess its existing Title IX compliance program and improve coordination between different offices for handling reports of gender-based discrimination.
It includes several deadlines, including one Saturday. That’s when the university promised to provide the government with a list of “signage, plaques, scoreboards, commemorations or any other visual display” referencing Cradock and a plan for their removal or “continued display.”
The plaintiffs described a variety of emotions about continuing the civil litigation, ranging from excitement to fear, but said they are united in their desire to go forward.
“We are all young, 20-something people going up against an institution that we thought had our best interests at heart,” the female swimmer said. “I’ve finally found my voice and I’m ready for my voice to be heard and I won’t back down. They can’t scare me anymore.”