{"id":48881,"date":"2025-09-18T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ehorses.com\/magazine\/?post_type=news&#038;p=48881"},"modified":"2025-09-18T07:43:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T11:43:08","slug":"michael-barisone-sues-usef-for-failing-to-report-abuse-complaints-against-lauren-kanarek","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.ehorses.com\/magazine\/news\/michael-barisone-sues-usef-for-failing-to-report-abuse-complaints-against-lauren-kanarek\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Barisone Sues USEF for Failing to Report Abuse Complaints Against Lauren Kanarek"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"48881\" class=\"elementor elementor-48881\" data-elementor-post-type=\"news\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"penci-section penci-disSticky penci-structure-10 elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-35a4d19 elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"35a4d19\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"penci-ercol-100 penci-ercol-order-1 penci-sticky-ct    elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-ba918e6\" data-id=\"ba918e6\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-661b562 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"661b562\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Olympic dressage rider Michael Barisone has filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Equestrian Federation, alleging it failed to report serious complaints about Lauren Kanarek\u2014complaints that, he argues, could have prevented a shooting and years of personal and professional fallout.<\/strong><\/p><h2>Barisone\u2019s Legal Move: Six Years After the Shooting<\/h2><p>In a dramatic development six years after he was <strong>arrested for shooting Lauren Kanarek<\/strong>, dressage rider Michael Barisone has filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Equestrian Federation (USEF). The suit alleges that USEF failed to act on or report numerous formal complaints about Kanarek\u2019s threatening and abusive behavior, including those made by Barisone himself, well before the 2019 incident that led to his arrest and subsequent acquittal by reason of insanity.<\/p><p>Filed on July 31, 2025, the lawsuit accuses USEF of violating the Safe Sport Authorization Act and breaching its duties as a national governing body. According to Barisone, had the federation <strong>reported earlier complaints<\/strong> to the U.S. Center for SafeSport, Kanarek could have been suspended or banned\u2014possibly preventing the conflict that led to the shooting.<\/p><h2>Warnings Ignored: Multiple Complaints Before the Incident<\/h2><p>The suit outlines complaints made as early as 2017 by at least four individuals, including a Paralympic trainer, a former groom, and a civilian who had no equestrian background but alleged years of <strong>online harassment<\/strong> by Kanarek. These individuals contacted USEF with detailed reports, some including social media messages, emails, and text screenshots illustrating threats, cyberbullying, and verbal abuse. In all cases, the suit claims, there <strong>was little to no follow-up\u2014and no action taken<\/strong> to forward the cases to SafeSport, as USEF was obligated to do.<\/p><p>Barisone\u2019s own attempts to seek help in the days leading up to the shooting were reportedly dismissed. According to the lawsuit, he made several desperate calls to USEF executives, including the COO and the then-CEO, warning that he felt he was in a <strong>\u201clife or death\u201d situation<\/strong>. Yet no one advised him to contact SafeSport, and no action was taken by the federation.<\/p><h2>Professional Ruin and Personal Fallout<\/h2><p>Barisone was acquitted of attempted murder on the grounds of insanity and spent time in state psychiatric facilities before being released in 2023. Despite this, he <strong>remains suspended<\/strong> by SafeSport for unrelated allegations, barring him from participating in USEF-sanctioned events.<\/p><p>His lawsuit describes severe financial and emotional consequences. Barisone claims he was forced to sell his multi-million-dollar New Jersey equestrian center at a significant loss, <strong>incurred millions in legal fees<\/strong>, and continues to suffer reputational damage. The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, attorney\u2019s fees, and additional relief as deemed appropriate by the court.<\/p><h2>Broader Implications for Equestrian Governance<\/h2><p>This case raises serious concerns about transparency, accountability, and the <strong>responsibilities of equestrian governing bodies<\/strong> under the Safe Sport Act. Barisone&#8217;s attorneys argue that USEF not only failed its duty to protect members but also ignored its own rules requiring the referral of serious complaints.<\/p><p>The lawsuit <strong>puts USEF under legal and public scrutiny<\/strong> just as athlete safety and misconduct protocols are becoming central topics across the sports world. USEF has not yet responded publicly, but is required to answer the lawsuit by September 26.<\/p><p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chronofhorse.com\/article\/barisone-sues-usef-for-failing-to-report-kanarek-complaints-to-safesport\/?fbclid=IwY2xjawM4zBNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHu70lq_EdLExp4Z1tl8wT6J9bloRna4HBVSOHfjJoR4ntJAGj31QyzaBtaec_aem_QYheSSrm-YdJ8t1SBFWzNw\">chronofhorse.com<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Olympic dressage rider Michael Barisone has filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Equestrian Federation,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":129,"featured_media":48886,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[209],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48881","news","type-news","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Michael Barisone sues USEF over abuse complaint failures<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Olympic rider Michael Barisone files lawsuit against USEF, alleging ignored abuse complaints about Lauren Kanarek \u25ba Learn more now!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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