Jim Estes, a member of the board of directors of USA Track & Field (USATF), has filed a defamation lawsuit against USATF; Max Siegel, the organization’s CEO; and Renee Washington, the organization’s COO.
At issue is the way USATF handled the awarding of the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials to Orlando, Florida, last November and the concurrent disqualification of Chattanooga, Tennessee, the only other city that bid to host the event. Siegel (above) disqualified Chattanooga due to a conflict of interest, because Estes was a consultant on the bid.
Estes, however, had disclosed the conflict to USATF in May 2022 and had recused himself from any board of directors discussions about the Olympic Marathon Trials, in keeping with USATF’s ethics guidelines.
The lawsuit says that Siegel “intentionally and repeatedly made false verbal and written statements asserting professional misconduct by the Plaintiff [Estes] … Defendant Max Siegel’s statements imputed misconduct in Plaintiff’s profession and have caused professional and reputational damage, and constitute libel and slander per se.”
In response to an email from Runner’s World seeking comment, a spokesperson said USATF has not been served with a complaint.
Brock Hagerman, the attorney representing Estes, discussed the lawsuit in a call with Runner’s World. “Jim has worked in this industry for decades,” Hagerman said. “This lawsuit is all about Jim’s reputation. He has a great reputation in the industry, he has for a long time, and he’s worked very hard to build that reputation, built on honesty and integrity. This debacle has tarnished that reputation unfairly.”
Hagerman quoted from a letter from Siegel to Chattanooga organizers, dated November 8, 2022, the same day USATF awarded the Trials to Orlando, in which Siegel wrote, “the circumstances were neither created by USATF nor condoned by USATF.”
“That’s patently false,” Hagerman said. “The circumstances were exclusively created by USA Track & Field and that letter cites Jim’s name specifically and clearly puts the blame on him. That’s where the defamation piece of this comes in. We’re really hoping to restore Jim’s reputation.”
Estes has been “impacted by this in any number of ways,” Hagerman said. “I’ll just leave it at that. He’s been significantly impacted by these events.”
The lawsuit also alleges negligence by Washington, who “failed to properly act on Plaintiff’s COI [conflict of interest] Disclosure.”
Estes’s legal action is not the only lawsuit facing USATF in Marion Superior Court in Indianapolis, where USATF is headquartered. Athlete Taliyah Brooks brought a lawsuit last December against the organization. Brooks collapsed during the 2021 Olympic Trials after USATF failed to reschedule the heptathlon competition, even as temperatures soared to 110 degrees. USATF had, however, rescheduled other events because of the heat.
USATF announced last month that the marathon trials in Orlando, on February 3, 2024, will begin at noon, which raised alarm among some top contenders that heat could mar the competition.
Sarah Lorge Butler is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World since 2005. She is the author of two popular fitness books, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
