Scandals & Feuds ·
Rick Butler’s Bans and the Business-Interference Lawsuit That Followed
USA Volleyball partially reversed a lifetime ban, then reinstated it years later. Advocates subsequently faced a $250 million suit; in June 2026, Champion Women reported a summary-judgment victory.
In 1995, USA Volleyball banned Rick Butler for life after three former players—Sarah Powers-Barnhard, Julie Romias and Christine Tuzi—said he had sexually abused them in the 1980s, when they were under 18 and he was their coach. Five years later, the organization partially rescinded the ban. Butler, who founded Sports Performance Volleyball in Aurora, Illinois, returned to coaching. The word “lifetime” had not settled his place in volleyball.
Sports Performance became a prominent youth-volleyball program. But the allegations remained part of Butler’s public history, and new claims prompted another effort to expel him. In early January 2018, Butler announced through his attorney that USA Volleyball had again banned him. He said the organization had punished him for filing a lawsuit and defending himself against “baseless accusations,” and he refused to participate in a further hearing on sexual-abuse allegations, calling the process a “sham.”
The distinction mattered to the former players. Powers-Barnhard told the Chicago Sun-Times she wanted written confirmation that the ban was for abusing players: “Until then I’m still fighting.” Romias likewise wanted the organization to act on the abuse charge, saying that “future girls need to be protected.” Butler denied ever sexually abusing anyone. He acknowledged having sex with Powers-Barnhard, Romias and Tuzi, but maintained that they were no longer minors or members of his team at the time.
By March 2018, NBC News reported that USA Volleyball had reinstated its lifetime ban in January and that the Amateur Athletic Union had banned Butler for life the following month. NBC also reported that he had never faced criminal charges. Why the original ban was partially rescinded in 2000 was not clear; USA Volleyball declined to explain that decision. Its board chair, Lori Okimura, thanked the women who had come forward and pledged “zero tolerance” for such behavior.
Another restriction appeared in a fundraising statement republished by Sports Law Expert in April 2022. Champion Women said the Junior Volleyball Association had imposed an “indefinite suspension”—not a lifetime ban. The statement also described a separate legal fight: a $250 million lawsuit by Rick and Cheryl Butler and their company against Nancy Hogshead, Champion Women and Deborah DiMatteo.
According to the defendants’ statement, the lawsuit alleged business interference, including that the advocates had intimidated customers into cutting ties with the Butlers and their company, GLV, Inc. The statement quoted allegations of lost profits, reputational harm and a conspiracy to destroy the business. The defendants defended their advocacy and sought donations for legal expenses. “We think parents and athletes should know if a coach has received a formal sanction for sexually abusing minors,” they wrote.
On June 24, 2026, Champion Women announced that the federal district court in northern Illinois had granted summary judgment to Hogshead, the organization and DiMatteo in the suit brought by Rick and Cheryl Butler and GLV. Champion Women said the court found that the defendants’ speech was constitutionally protected because it concerned a matter of public concern: the risk Butler posed to young athletes. Their campaign had taken information about Butler to sponsors, facilities, clubs and colleges that recruited from Sports Performance. In Champion Women’s account of the ruling, the advocates had the right to issue those warnings.