Marilia Coutinho, Ph.D.

September 22, 2017

Steve Denison
USPA / IPL President

Dear Mr. Denison

This is my official report to USPA and IPL president, Mr. Steve Denison, as per request of International
Referee Director, Mr. Joseph Smolinski.

This report concerns two separate organizational issues which are somewhat related. They will be
addressed separately for precision and clarity purposes:

1. Sexual harassment complaint and false accusation complaint related to events that took place at
the B & W Bodyworks meet on September the 16 th, 2017, in Stillwater, Oklahoma

2. Organizational problems and overwork caused by National Judge Ms. Victoria Powell on five
meets in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas, witnessed by me or communicated to me since October
2016

1. Sexual harassment complaint and false accusation complaint related to events that took place
at the B & W Bodyworks meet on September the 16th, 2017, in Stillwater, Oklahoma

Before I describe the events that took place and what I came to learn subsequently, I must let you know
that the gravity of the developments made me seek legal advice for myself: I am a foreigner, I am
unfamiliar with American law and things happened at a very fast pace. According to the consulted
attorney, my handling of the situation was exactly what it should be and should not, by any means,
continue (as an investigation) as anything beyond this has to involve law enforcement agencies. I was
advised to send this report to you ASAP, which I am doing now.

On September 16, 2017, I was approached by Ms. Victoria Powell, USPA National judge working the B &
W Bodyworks meet in Stillwater, OK, under meet director and State Chair Mr. Josh Nooner, and myself as
head judge, with a description of a sexual harassment situation. Ms. Powell reported to Mr. Nooner, Mr.
Brett Sandy (venue owner) and myself that <deleted>, gym owner in Oklahoma City <deleted> who was
at the meet in the capacity of coach, made sexual advances over three female lifters. As it developed, it
became a double accuser/accused situation, with one being the sexual harassment accusing party on
behalf of three third parties (who never approached me or Ms. Powell), and one being the alleged victim
of a false accusation. According to my lawyer’s advice, I assumed my role as one to ensure that both
parties would receive fair and neutral treatment, be safe but observed in subsequent meets.
I take, and I understand the USPA/IPL takes sexual harassment very seriously, since there are dangerous
liability issues involved. The opposite is equally serious: false sexual harassment accusations can lead to
ugly, long and expensive lawsuits. Not only that, but one such lawsuit would drag our brand in the mud
as it becomes public, causing us major losses.

Upon listening carefully to Ms. Powell’s report, I promised I would investigate only at the level of my
capacity as USPA official, and I did. My first concern was that none of this became public and I asked that
the issue not be discussed with anybody else. I approached <deleted>, calmly told him about the
concerns and, unsurprisingly, he was very upset. He denied all the accusations and made the following
remarks:

1. That he found bewildering that the women supposedly accusing him had just added him on
social media. He showed me his phone, and this is true.

2. That as per one of these women’s request, he had helped her stretch on the bench, with over 30
people around, in the warm up area. I personally saw this happening. The girl seemed relaxed
and compliant.

3. That one other female lifters asked him to apply baby-powder on her thighs for the deadlift.

I asked if anybody could confirm his version of the story. I did not want to approach the women, having
decided that I would only do so if strictly necessary. Otherwise, I would run the risk of embarrassing the
three female lifters and exposing them, which would be disastrous, and transgressing my responsibility.
<deleted> gave me the names of the people who were around him during his interaction with the
women. I approached the three of them and they told me that nothing unusual happened, that there
was no complaint, no inappropriate interaction and they were genuinely surprised.

<deleted> was so upset that he told me he would immediately leave and never set foot at a USPA meet
again. I asked him repeatedly not to. Mishandling this situation would have potentially important
negative repercussion for us in the State, since his gym contributes, regularly, around 6-8 lifters per meet
and is a local strength training hub. They can also generate rumor, given their contacts, and this is not
irrelevant.

I asked two people – a female lifter <deleted> and a male coach <deleted>, both from the Kansas team
“Valhalla” – to remain close to <deleted> for the rest of the duration of the meet, to observe any
interaction anyone had with him and to report to me, and me alone. I also asked <deleted> to avoid
interacting with anyone he did not know for long and completely trusted. <deleted> felt comfortable
with the arrangement. That’s what my lawyer advised me to do: keep safe monitoring.

When the meet ended, <deleted> approached me and gave me a full report. According to <deleted>, as
<deleted> was leaving, the three supposed complainants greeted him in friendly manner and there was
no sign of awkwardness.

Considering how upset the whole situation made <deleted>, I apologized to him on behalf of the USPA
and assured him that he, his lifters and his gym would always be welcome at our meets. This apparently
calmed things down at that end and I proceeded as my attorney suggested: I promised to both parties
they would be safe, but monitored.
I must call your attention, though, that that is not the first time there are allegations of sexual
misconduct concerning this coach, just as it is not the first time Ms. Powell’s name comes up on the
same subject.

Having performed my investigation in a discreet manner, asking the few people I had to contact not to
comment on what I was doing, unfortunately I was informed by <deleted> that the same type of
accusation was made by Ms. Powell at other occasions, against other men, and were equally unfounded.
Before that, <deleted>, from Oklahoma City, from <deleted>, shared with me some apprehension related
to the same topic.

The next day, a very vocal lifter, <deleted>, posted on social media that she had witnessed a sexual
harassment situation, not naming our organization, but contextually leading readers to understand this
was the case: again, according to my lawyer, nothing I should act on, in spite of obvious misbehavior on
her part (potential defamation). I politely contacted <deleted> and asked her if she would be willing to
send me a written account of the case, by email (best documented format), with all the details she
remembered.

She agreed and at first her tone was one of wrongly assuming she could legally demand the USPA to take
action against <deleted>. I thanked her for her account, assured her she and any other female or male
lifter would be safe under any USPA meet regarding potential sexual harassment situations as long as our
supervision was concerned, requested that the subject remained confidential and nothing more be
published on social media. She complied, she also seemed to understand the legal gravity of what she
had written and sent a few messages trying to tone it down. She named three potential victims of sexual
harassment: <deleted>.

Two days later Ms. Victoria Powell contacted me with an excuse to meet me and obtain judging advice.
Given these precedents and the following item of this report, I will not be alone with this judge under
any circumstance, since she is a serial “fictional situation creator”. Please understand that I need to
protect myself as much as the USPA.

Considering the sexual harassment accusation, I was advised to take no further step then the ones I did: I
assured both parties that:

- We are neutral

- We take all charges seriously: both sexual harassment and false accusations of sexual
harassment

- For this reason, we will watch closely the interactions between mentioned parties

I was also advised that, in such cases, if there is insistence on our intervention and if they feel
misconduct is sufficiently serious to do so, they should seek law enforcement and proper authorities.

On our part – the USPA-OK – we are covered. We protected all lifters, all accusing parties and we will
keep an eye on all parties involved in this event from now on. We are not legally liable for anything and
our name may not me mentioned publicly in respect to any misconduct.
I must let you know, also, that we respond not only to you, to our lifters, to the public, but also to our
sponsors and supporters. We are supported by a Women’s empowering committed company, “Grrrl”
clothing. We will never be involved in a sexual harassment case.

1. Organizational problems and overwork caused by National Judge Ms. Victoria Powell on five
meets in Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma, witnessed by or communicated to me since October
2016

I read and re-read several times <deleted> letter with her account of the sexual misconduct situation. It
is colored by emotion, not unlike Ms. Powell’s accounts.

That Saturday morning, I was requested by our State Chair to talk to Ms. Powell, given her excessively
proactive behavior in ruling and procedure during the weigh ins and meet preparation. I was also told
that one of the judge candidates was so upset by her aggressiveness that said candidate was considering
dropping out of the USPA judge program. I called Ms. Powell outside at 8AM and had the shortest
possible conversation with her. Since we had complaints dating back four meets before this one, I waited
for her denial of all the allegations to tell her I did not believe her, since I had witnessed, first hand, that
exact behavior. That included:

- Grabbing cards from lifters’ hands and unauthorizing other officials (she alleged they ignored the
rule that the lifters shouldn’t touch their cards; said officials told me she didn’t give anyone a
chance and actually terrorized the lifters);

- Unauthorizing the meet director, in loud voice, confusing lifters and embarrassing new judges

- Taking pictures and videos when she was assigned, by me, to take over the “cards” responsibility
(I do not allow judges to use their cellphones while on duty); overall using her phone while on
duty;

- Making alterations on the rotation table without permission;

- Improper physical contact on equipment inspection, especially with male lifters

- Interrupting the judge responsible for rule lecturing to claim that she was “really hard on
catching cheaters concerning equipment” (this has been a repetitive complaint against her since
I got here)

I kept my voice low and slow, and eventually she toned down, admitter her misconduct and apologized,
promising she would behave according to what we expected her to.

I gave her more rest time than the other judges for both objective and subjective reasons: first, I had a
candidate taking her practicals and I optimize their chair time as a rule. Second, I had two fresh State
judges needing chair time. Third, I needed Ms. Powell away from the chair as much as I could to avoid
more complaints, since I had a full day of work.

That didn’t work so well, as the sexual harassment situation showed. Regardless of what really
happened, and it is possible that sexual misconduct did, it was not surprising, to me, that Ms. Powell was
the one to bring up the case, in excited manner and involving the gym owner.
Different State judges have reported to me having had conflicts with Ms. Powell. One of them confided
to me that she was on the verge of giving up being a judge because of Ms. Powell.

Three different team coaches made serious complaints about Ms. Powell’s behavior at the platform,
which directly affects me, since I am the head judge. She doesn’t seem to have the necessary mastery
over head judges’ commands, having once created an embarrassing situation by giving a down command
on the deadlift before even the completion of the lift. It embarrassed me to have to hear that from a
group of 20 something year olds, all of whom have deep respect for me (later confirmed by an older
coach, who was disgusted). Her side judging on the three lifts is inconsistent: we might have a whole
flight where her calls are fine, and then one where she misjudges 20% of the lifts or more. Oklahoma is a
young state, powerlifting-wise, but we have some seriously experienced people who did not take this
lightly. Some have been so upset as to say they will not compete again if she is at the platform.

Two venues are off-limits to the USPA if Ms. Powell even enters the venue (even more than just being on
the platform): <deleted> and <deleted>. At <deleted> she is persona-non-grata to owners, coaches and
lifters alike.

In Kansas, she is not welcome at the only serious strength gym in Wichita.

Texas is the only State where the USPA Chairman and meet organizers seem to have some level of
control over Ms. Powell, or at least dilute her misconduct, given that they have so many judges. But even
there, I had complaints about her behavior in the warm up room.

My responsibilities as International judge, almost always the head judge and TC at the Southwest
include:

- Supervising all other judges

- Supervising and clarifying ruling issues (teaching) to new judge candidates at the practical exam

- Establishing judge rotation for a meet (except in Texas, or in Kansas where I’m not present)

- Making final decisions where judges are involved

- Making other decisions, together with the meet director, when lifters’ health is involved

If, besides all that, I have to take special measures to monitor the out-of-platform activities of Ms. Powell,
who seems to be most of the time entertained with the above mentioned transgressions of her
responsibilities, my efficiency will necessarily be compromised.

Speaking only for myself now, it is getting increasingly harder and more unpleasant to work in the
presence of said judge, not to mention harder and harder to find anywhere where she is not
automatically unwelcome.

How many venues will I lose because she creates problems with the gym owners? How many coaches
will pull away their lifters because she misbehaves? How many potential judge candidates (and we are
badly in need of those) will give up because of Ms. Powell?

Please understand that she is not even aware of all this and there has never been a conflict between her
and myself. I do not like or dislike Ms. Powell. At my attorney’s advice, I am actively taking measure to
remain emotionally uninvolved.
However, I have official duties with the USPA/IPL. I am not young and my health is not so great. We all
need a healthy environment to lift, work and promote our sport.

In no uncertain terms, I here state that Ms. Victoria Powell is not fit to be a judge, let alone a National
judge. That in Oklahoma, a young state, she creates problems that we have a hard time controlling.
Unless she gets both a handle on her personal behavior and significantly improves her judging, she is a
problem – not an asset.

Yours,

Marilia Coutinho, Ph.D.

USPA/IPL International judge