Equestrian businessman challenges SafeSport ban at 10th Circuit

Filed 45m ago · Via Courthouse News · The Buffoon Desk

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Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: Daan Noske / Anefo · CC0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Derek Strine, owner of a Florida equestrian training facility, appealed to the 10th Circuit to revive his challenge against the U.S. Center for SafeSport, which barred him from U.S. Equestrian Federation activities following two sexual misconduct complaints filed in 2023. Strine was never a coach or athlete, but argued the ban still damaged his business.

His attorney told the court SafeSport's procedures shift the burden of proof and effectively treat all allegations as true, while SafeSport's attorney countered that Strine agreed to its rules by joining the federation, which covers only a third of the sport's events. One complainant described being sexually assaulted after a dinner invitation; another later claimed Strine failed to pay a $385,000 settlement in full.

Judges pressed both sides on what it means for SafeSport rules to operate ‘as though’ they were federal law. The panel gave no timeline for a ruling.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

A man who says he never trained or competed is fighting to avoid the sport's abuse-prevention rules on the theory that a private nonprofit's policy manual shouldn't act like law. Meanwhile the actual facts on record include a settled six-figure claim and an assault allegation, neither of which made it into a criminal courtroom. Whatever the 10th Circuit decides about rulemaking authority, it's worth noticing what the appeal is really trying to get him out of.

Source: Read the original at Courthouse News → Scored: Sneaky · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0

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