Mary Cain sues Al Sal and Nike for $20 million over alleged abuse

I think Nike will fight this, with maybe an undisclosed sum given to a charitable cause in final settlement in the end. Because its just too big of a precedent to set for other athletes sueing.

I also think Mary Cain continues to make bad decisions, and for some reason, her parents seem to be complicit in this. Raising a high publicity lawsuit is extremely stressful, expensive and time consuming. She would be better to go back to college and run for fun than spend the next few years pursuing this. It is not compatible with being a professional runner and likely signals that, yet again, she will not be racing at elite level in what should be her prime years.

It actually makes me question her parents. They were the ones responsible at the time for sending her to Salazar at age 16 and she still seems highly influenced by them. They are ... odd. They seem to deny any responsibility for their 16 year old daughter's decisions while at the same time blaming third parties for doing what they encouraged their 16 year old daughter to do.

And we need to stop with the idea that encouraging an athlete to be light is "abuse". Elite athletes are light. If Mary Cain can't sustain that past puberty, then she is not the build of an elite athlete. I saw her running a 1500m in Belgium a few years back and it was obvious that she was overweight then in terms of elite athlete performance.

It can only be a matter of time before Mary Cain has yet another epiphany and decides to blame/sue her parents for something they have said or done to her. She is now old enough to focus on her own achievements and being responsible for herself.

So I haven't read the complaint, but the story says she's suing for fraud, discrimination, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. I'm not sure what the fraud and discrimination claims are about, but IIED is a super high bar. To prevail, she'd have to prove that Al Sal (1) acted outrageously (subjective standard, but the case law in most states has examples indicating it has to be really bad), (2) with the INTENT to cause emotional distress severe enough to negatively affect mental health, and (3) the behavior must actually have caused that effect.

All of these elements are tough. Intent seems impossible to prove based on what's been reported so far. Even the third element, which might superficially seem easy, presents problems because Cain's issues were almost certainly a product of the entire situation, not all of which can be attributed so Salazar's "outrageous" conduct.

brien evans wrote:

I hope Nike leaves running. It's just constant bad press and how can you be competitive if you can't tell a runner they are overweight? Fat people don't win races.

As a slow fat lard, I feel like this is a personal attack...pay me $20 Mill right now!

jecht wrote:

where do I sign up? wrote:

"In the lawsuit filed Monday in Multnomah County Circuit Court, Cain alleges Salazar on several occasions required her to get on a scale in front of other people and would then criticize her."

If the award for this is $20m, I'll gladly step on a scale and get told I'm fat.

I'd say odds are she wins the lawsuit, because of the situation and various factors, especially if the judge is sympathetic.

Not sure why you have to bring Mike Sorrentino into this.

Please... that's what happens when you eat the big cookie ;-)

tracksmith beware wrote:

Is Tracksmith next?

She didn't like her HS team.

She didn't like her pro team.

Does she like her first job?

It is hard to believe Tracksmith didn't strongly discourage any lawsuit. Not a good look.

What happened to strong Women? She could have walked away at any time...

Do we need separate laws for Women because they are so helpless?

I bet every time he sees or hears the words "Mary Cain" he wishes he wouldn't have survived that heart attack.

That girl is a pestilence. She just refuses to go away.

Hey chic! News flash... not everybody's athletic careers pan out. You're just one in a thousand that didn't.

Go away.

#freesalazar wrote:

tracksmith beware wrote:

Is Tracksmith next?

She didn't like her HS team.

She didn't like her pro team.

Does she like her first job?

It is hard to believe Tracksmith didn't strongly discourage any lawsuit. Not a good look.

It's all their fault because she's such a strong empowered women and they can't deal with it because "misogamy."

Next up wrote:

https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2021/10/distance-runner-mary-cain-sues-former-coach-alberto-salazar-nike-over-alleged-abuse.html

This is just gross. The world lost its mind when they allowed that idiot to sue abs win for the hot McDonald’s coffee that was spilled. That was the turning point.

where do I sign up? wrote:

"In the lawsuit filed Monday in Multnomah County Circuit Court, Cain alleges Salazar on several occasions required her to get on a scale in front of other people and would then criticize her."

If the award for this is $20m, I'll gladly step on a scale and get told I'm fat.

Well... on the other hand, that was a 50+ male in a power position, telling a teenage girl to go, barely dressed, on a scale, while ogling her. Then he publicly and negatively criticized the size of "her breasts and bottom":

“Salazar told her that she was too fat and that her breasts and bottom were too big,” the lawsuit alleges.

Not to mention "on several occasions".

Outrageous. Disgusting. I am glad that sicko got finally banned for life.

We're you there? Cain made those claims but begged him to return to the team when she was an adult. But you can go on believing her.

Mike spends $2M to defend and loses. Mary Cain awarded $1.00

casual obsever wrote:

where do I sign up? wrote:

"In the lawsuit filed Monday in Multnomah County Circuit Court, Cain alleges Salazar on several occasions required her to get on a scale in front of other people and would then criticize her."

If the award for this is $20m, I'll gladly step on a scale and get told I'm fat.

Well... on the other hand, that was a 50+ male in a power position, telling a teenage girl to go, barely dressed, on a scale, while ogling her. Then he publicly and negatively criticized the size of "her breasts and bottom":

“Salazar told her that she was too fat and that her breasts and bottom were too big,” the lawsuit alleges.

Not to mention "on several occasions".

Outrageous. Disgusting. I am glad that sicko got finally banned for life.

Yes, how dare Alberto speak the truth to a profession athlete he’s paid to coach to optimal performance!!!

footy wrote:

We're you there? Cain made those claims but begged him to return to the team when she was an adult. But you can go on believing her.

Ah yes, as we know, no abuse victim has ever acted irrationally towards their abuser. It's never happened. There's definitely not syndromes specifically for this situation. We all know a teenage girl would be steely-eyed while an old man berates us in front of our peers.

Shouldn't tracksmith have gone with a successful person like Simpson?

Mary Cain is gross. Just because you aren't ready to be a pro and act like a pro you get to sue a coach for $20mm? Wtf.....

No. She wanted to return a year later after being with parents and friends. And how did he abuse her? He treated her better than 99% of professional athletes are treated by coaches. Ask any male NFL or NBA player.

Guys if you coach girls... be very very very careful because no matter what you say, it will turned against you.

Tell her the truth (you are too fat and heavy to be a high level distance runner, for example) and she will sue you.

Tell her a lie (sure everything is fine, just keep trying, you'll get there!), and you will be accused of not giving her the same level of attention that you give the males.