Ex-USA Gymnastics national team member Alyssa Baumann alleges that Larry Nassar abused her

Posted on by Max Ritchie

USA Gymnastics

Another former USA Gymnastics national team member has added her name to the growing list of girls and women sexually abused by Larry Nassar.

Alyssa Baumann, 20, a Plano, Texas, resident now attending the University of Florida, told IndyStar she is the Jane Doe who filed a lawsuit in August in Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois.

The lawsuit claims USA Gymnastics investigated Nassar in 2015 after a coach overheard Baumann talking about the former team doctor’s treatments, but that she was not contacted about it until 30 months later.

Baumann is among nearly 500 survivors now suing the embattled national governing body for failing to protect them from the sexual predator. Her attorney, Michelle Simpson Tuegel, said the lawsuit is being amended this week to replace the Jane Doe designation with Baumann’s name.

The lawsuit says Baumann was sexually assaulted by Nassar on more than 40 occasions and seeks unspecified damages from USA Gymnastics, the International Federation of Gymnastics and Nassar.

Baumann was a member of the U.S. National Team from 2013-16, which won a team gold medal at the 2014 World Championship in China.

The lawsuit alleges she was sexually abused by Nassar “at every national team camp” she attended at the Karolyi Ranch from 2013 through 2015, as well as three major events in 2014: The World Championship in China, the U.S. National Championship in Pittsburgh and the Secret Classic Championship in Chicago.

“The worst was the World Championships, because it was a month-long thing. We were at the ranch for more than a week and a half. Then we went straight to China, and we had a hotel room just for treatment,” Baumann told IndyStar. “A lot of times we would be left alone in that room with him. I think (the sexual abuse) happened every single day when I was there because we were forced, when we were there — we were all really run down, and tired, from training every single day. They told us ‘you have to go to treatment every single day.’ “

During that time in China, Nassar gave her pills prior to the treatments, and now she isn’t “sure about what he was giving me,” Baumann said.

“He told me that they were muscle relaxers that I needed to take before treatment, so that he could — so that my muscles would be more relaxed, and it would be easier for him to work on me,” she said. “But I don’t know exactly that they were muscle relaxers, because he would hand me pills and tell me to take them.”

Baumann’s lawsuit alleges she was one of the gymnasts overheard by a coach as they discussed concerns about Nassar’s treatments during a camp at the Karolyi Ranch in the summer of 2015. That discussion prompted the coach to report Nassar to USA Gymnastics officials, who conducted a five-week investigation before reporting Nassar to the FBI.

But Baumann said no one from USA Gymnastics followed up or interviewed her until November 2017, nearly 30 months later. And then, according to the lawsuit, the official who visited her in Florida asked Baumann about the abuse in front of other people.

Tuegel, Baumann’s attorney, said that inquiry came around the same time USA Gymnastics was in settlement talks with other Nassar survivors.

“It’s interesting, right before the first mediation, one of (former-USA Gymnastics president) Steve Penny’s people is casually ‘poking around’ with gymnasts to see who else may pop up,” Tuegel said.

USA Gymnastics

Later, Baumann said, USA Gymnastics sent an email about the matter to Baumann’s parents, whom she had not yet told about being sexually abused by Nassar.

A USA Gymnastics spokeswoman said the organization does not comment on pending litigation.

Baumann’s revelation comes as the U.S. Olympic Committee is moving forward with action to strip Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics — which is facing lawsuits from hundreds of Nassar survivors — of its recognition as the sport’s national governing body.

Tuegel said that move factored into Baumann’s decision to reveal that she is a Nassar survivor, too.

“They’re tired of seeing what keeps happening. They really want to see something be different at a deeper level, and it not just be on the surface — ‘we’re going to stamp a new name on this, and things are going to continue as usual.’ That’s what resulted in all of these women being in this situation. I know that’s important to Alyssa.”

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How do the new US corporate tax rates compare globally? A Foolish Take

Posted on by Max Ritchie

US corporate tax rates compare globally

President Donald Trump says he “unleashed an economic miracle” with his tax cuts last year. Trump was marking the six-month anniversary of the $1.5 trillion tax cuts.

The tax reform package that became law late last year had substantial impacts on American taxpayers. Major changes to the standard deduction, various credits and itemized deduction provisions, and individual tax rates left many people confused about whether they’d end up saving money or paying more on their individual returns. Yet there’s one area where tax reform unambiguously resulted in lower taxes: the corporate tax rate.

Prior to tax reform, the U.S. had a corporate tax rate that was just under 39%. That consisted of a 35% federal tax rate on corporate income, with the remainder coming from state-level taxes that most U.S. states impose. That put the U.S. in the top three countries in the world in terms of corporate tax, according to figures last year from the Tax Foundation. Now, though, federal rates on corporate income have fallen from 35% to 21%. That puts the total federal and state burden at around 24%, just above the worldwide average of roughly 23%.

Still, even when you ignore tax havens with little productive economic activity, the new U.S. rate is far from the lowest level you’ll find. Among major industrialized nations, Hungary leads the way, and Ireland isn’t too far behind.

US corporate tax rates compare globally

Proponents of tax reform argue that lower corporate tax rates will boost business profits, leading to greater levels of economic activity that should result in higher wages over time. Opponents argue that lower business tax rates will only concentrate more wealth in the hands of high-income taxpayers.

For many businesses, the biggest benefit of tax reform will come not from lower rates but rather from simplified calculations. With some complex tax breaks going away to help pay for lower tax rates, companies hope that the new tax regime will be easier to navigate as well as result in lower cost.

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