DENVER -- A lawsuit filed against the U.S. Olympic Committee by the organization's former drug czar is close to a resolution, according to documents filed in federal court Friday.
Wade Exum, who served as the Colorado Springs-based agency's director of drug control administration for nine years until he resigned in 2000, sued the organization in El Paso County District Court last year. The case was moved to federal court in May 2005.
Exum's attorney, John Pineau, filed a request Friday to suspend the case because the two sides had reached an agreement and needed time to finalize paperwork.
Pineau did not return a message left Friday at his office. USOC attorney William Wright declined to comment.
Exum, a psychiatrist, accused the USOC of undermining his push to eliminate doping and failing to discipline athletes who used drugs. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for emotional distress, embarrassment, lost wages and benefits, diminished career opportunities and other injuries.
In a previous federal lawsuit, Exum, who is black, alleged racial discrimination as well as making claims similar to those in the present lawsuit. A federal judge threw out the discrimination claim in April 2003 and refused to consider the remaining claims. An appeals court refused to reinstate the initial lawsuit.
