“Many of us have already endured sexual abuse, institutional betrayal, or the death of a loved one. Congress must not compound that harm by leaving victims and families without meaningful accountability.” — College-athlete sexual-abuse survivors, whistleblowers and bereaved families
The National College Players Association today released a new analysis of the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA) finding major enforcement loopholes in the bill. For many athlete protections, the athlete’s own lawsuit is the only way the bill gives them to enforce those rights, yet the PCSA contains barriers that can block that lawsuit even after sexual abuse, catastrophic injury, death, loss of a scholarship, lost NIL income, or other serious harm.
First, the PCSA gives all universities 30 days to “cure” a violation. If the university does so and provides the required written assurance, the athlete’s lawsuit is barred. Crucially, the PCSA never defines what can be cured. A university could change a policy after an athlete has already been sexually abused, permanently injured, or killed and argue that the violation has been cured and the lawsuit is barred.
Second, the PCSA does nothing to prevent many public universities from invoking state sovereign immunity to block PCSA damages lawsuits. That means a public university could violate a federal athlete protection, cause an athlete to suffer sexual abuse, death, loss of a scholarship, lost NIL income, or other harm, and still be immune from paying damages under the PCSA. This has enormous implications. There are more than 1100 public two and four-year colleges, and public institutions make up almost two-thirds of NCAA DI.
Third, the bill does not guarantee attorney’s fees and litigation costs even when an athlete wins, making it far harder for victims and families to find lawyers willing to take on expensive litigation against a university.
“You cannot cure a dead athlete or undo sexual abuse,” said NCPA Executive Director Ramogi Huma. “The PCSA allows universities to violate virtually every PCSA athlete protection in the bill and still be shielded from a PCSA damages lawsuit – even when the result is sexual abuse and death.”
“This bill could preserve immunity for a public university even when its violation gives safe haven to a sexual predator or causes an athlete’s death in a hazardous workout,” Huma said. “Several Senate offices I spoke with were previously unaware of these issues and expressed concerned.”
In response to these concerns, Sen. Ted Cruz’s office called the criticism “absolutely baseless”, but did not address the sovereign-immunity loophole, the undefined 30-day cure, or the lack of guaranteed attorney’s fees. Instead, his office pointed to other federal and state legal avenues for athletes. That does not fix the PCSA’s own enforcement failures, and those other laws do not guarantee that an athlete can recover damages either.
In Cruz’s home state of Texas, for example, the state Tort Claims Act preserves governmental immunity from lawsuits arising from “assault, battery, false imprisonment, or any other intentional tort.” A public university can therefore remain immune from a state law damages lawsuit arising from a coach’s intentional assault or sexual abuse of an athlete, even under circumstances that violate the PCSA.
And Under Title IX, an athlete can report sexual abuse to university personnel and still be denied damages if the required university official did not have actual notice.
The contrast with enforcement against athletes is strikingly unjust. The PCSA has a powerful NCAA and conference enforcement system that gives them antitrust immunity to punish athletes over compensation, eligibility, transfers, and recruiting.
“The PCSA protections are fake for too many athletes, but robust for the universities, conferences, and NCAA. The bill’s authors have failed to ensure that athletes can actually enforce the protections they claim to provide.” Huma stated.
These findings raise important questions that the NCPA is flagging:
College-athlete sexual-abuse survivors, whistleblowers, and parents who lost their children have sent Senate leaders a separate PCSA opposition letter demanding that they fix these enforcement loopholes and include independent third-party safety enforcement modeled on SafeSport’s independent safety enforcement that protects Olympic athletes.
The letter states in part:
“Many of us have already endured sexual abuse, institutional betrayal, or the death of a loved one. Congress must not compound that harm by leaving victims and families without meaningful accountability.”
— College-athlete sexual-abuse survivors, whistleblowers and bereaved families
Congress chose a different approach when addressing sexual abuse in Olympic sports through SafeSport. In 2017, then-Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune said “setting up an independent entity to serve as a watchdog is a necessary step.
In addition to other changes, the NCPA is calling on Congress to address the sovereign-immunity loophole, prevent the 30-day cure provision from wiping away accountability for harm already suffered, guarantee reasonable attorney’s fees and litigation costs for prevailing athletes, and require independent third-party enforcement of athlete health and safety protections.
Survivors’ and Families’ Letter [LINK]