Woman sues Cable Dahmer Arena over firing, ice skating instructor’s alleged sexual abuse
A Johnson County woman filed a lawsuit Monday against the company that owns Cable Dahmer Arena, alleging that she was wrongfully fired from the ice rink after reporting alleged abuse between a junior coach and an instructor at Independence Community Ice. She claims in the same lawsuit that the instructor sexually abused her when she worked at the rink as a teenager, according to Jackson County court documents.
The lawsuit alleges Shawn Van Do, 40, sexually abused the woman from age 14 to 16 while she worked as a junior coach at Independence Community Ice. Van Do was a coach and instructor at the time.
According to court documents, Van Do “befriended” the woman, using his authority as an employee of the Oak View Group “to spend substantial periods of time alone” with the woman, gaining her “friendship, admiration and obedience.”
The woman said Van Do “conditioned or brainwashed” her to trust him, according to court documents.
Additionally, court documents allege multiple Oak View Group employees knew about the pair’s “illegal sexual relationship.”
The woman was afraid to report Van Do because he was a “very popular coach both with patrons and with other employees,” according to court documents.
Court documents allege the woman is not the only “minor female” with whom Van Do had a relationship. The pair’s relationship ended when the woman moved away for college.
The woman began working at the ice rink again after college, according to court documents. It wasn’t until after she began working there again that she found out Van Do still worked there. He held the same position as a coach and instructor.
The woman claims that after she began working at Independence Community Ice again, she witnessed “many of the same public behaviors” Van Do had displayed with her years earlier, according to court documents.
The woman took her claims to the ice skating director, who told her that “other people had also expressed concern” regarding Van Do’s behavior toward underage women, according to court documents.
The woman showed the ice skating director texts between herself and Van Do from years prior, and the ice skating director turned the man in to SafeSport, according to court documents.
SafeSport is a nonprofit organization aimed at responding to “abuse and misconduct within the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic movement,” according to court documents.
The Oak View Group did not open its own investigation, according to court documents.
According to the lawsuit, another employee who had knowledge of the situation told other ice rink community members about the woman’s complaint, outing her as a “whistleblower,” according to court documents.
The victim began to receive “openly hostile treatment” from coworkers who were friends with Van Do, according to court documents. She was allegedly “berated,” called names and “mocked” in conversations with clients.
Supervisors did not attempt to stop that behavior, according to court documents.
In 2023, SafeSport “escalated their investigation and referred it out to law enforcement,” according to court documents, resulting in the woman receiving fewer shifts and facing harsh treatment by supervisors.
The woman was fired for “attendance concerns” after she did not come to work on a day she was scheduled for medical treatment, which Independence Community Ice was aware of, according to court documents.
She had never received disciplinary reports or action for attendance concerns before, according to court documents.
After the woman’s firing, the mother of the junior coach reached out and told the woman she had found incriminating messages between Van Do and her daughter, according to court documents.
According to the lawsuit, “several law enforcement and administrative bodies” have been involved in the investigation since then.
The victim is seeking claims for relief based on gender discrimination, disability discrimination, hostile work environment, retaliation, violation of the Missouri Whistleblower Protection Act, childhood sexual abuse, battery and common law negligence, according to court documents.
The Oak View Group and Independence Community Ice did not respond to The Star’s request for comment.
