CORSICANA, Texas — Monica Aldama, head coach of Navarro Cheer – the program featured on Netflix’s popular “Cheer” docu-series –is suing USA Cheer and a former cheerleader, accusing them of “employing the terrorism of an unfounded, public, smear campaign,” according to a newly-filed lawsuit.
In 2023, a former Navarro cheerleader sued the college, its cheer team coach Monica Aldama and another former Navarro cheerleader regarding alleged sexual assault that occurred in September 2021.
WFAA is not naming the victim or suspect named in the 2023 lawsuit because criminal charges have not been filed.
The latest filing claims that the former cheerleaders' suit against Aldama led to USA Cheer suspending her without investigation, the cancellation of a national Cheer Tour, and the failure of a jewelry business. Aldama is seeking $5 million in damages.
“Defendants intentionally destroyed Monica’s professional life labeling her a pariah in the court of public opinion causing millions of dollars of damage to her, her family, her students, her school, the market, and the entire Navarro County community,” the lawsuit obtained by WFAA states.
The civil lawsuit was filed Tuesday in the 15th District Court in Navarro County. It alleges, in part, that the defendants violated Texas anti-trust laws and engaged in a civil conspiracy to deprive Aldama of her constitutional rights and protections.
Claims against former cheerleader
The lawsuit responds to an April 2023 lawsuit from a former Navarro cheerleader alleging Aldama “engag(ed) in a campaign to silence victims and protect abusers,” leading to the plaintiff’s sexual assault and subsequent harassment and intimidation.
In the 2023 lawsuit, the former cheerleader named in Aldama’s suit alleges she was sexually assaulted by another "rookie" male Navarro cheerleader after a party on Sept. 2, 2021. The lawsuit says the victim told several team members about the assault the next day.
Those team members encouraged her to disclose the assault to a veteran cheerleader, who the lawsuit says was the team's unofficial captain. The lawsuit goes on to allege that the veteran cheerleader told the victim not to report the assault to Aldama because it would stress her out and the school would cut the cheer program.
Aldama said that she did not know about the alleged sexual assault until the former cheerleader filed a complaint against her in 2023. Aldama also accused the former cheerleader of withholding details of the assault from her, law enforcement and college officials.
“The allegations of the Complaint were malicious, intentionally false, factually, and legally inaccurate,” Aldama’s lawsuit states. “Rather than accepting personal accountability for unfortunate decisions, (the former cheerleader) concocted a story sadly attempting to transfer guilt to others."
WFAA reached out to the former cheerleader’s lawyer, who declined to comment.
Claims against USA Cheer
USA Cheer is the U.S. governing body for cheering. The organization suspended Aldama on May 1, 2023, days after the former Navarro cheerleader filed a complaint against her. In an email included in the lawsuit document, USA Cheer notified Aldama that a third-party investigator from Players Health/Sports Defense would investigate the allegations.
In November 2023, USA Cheer acknowledged the investigation was closed and her suspension was upheld, the lawsuit states. She later resigned from her coaching job at Navarro College.
Aldama alleges that USA Cheer was attempting to “eliminate a competitive threat,” by suspending her and that due to USA Cheer’s monopolizing influence on the sport “members of USA Cheer such as (Aldama) and other participants in a covered activity do not have a choice and no option but to submit to USA Cheer’s oppression,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit alleges defendants interfered with several lucrative contracts by engaging in one or a combination of 19 actions including disparagement and misrepresentation against Aldama. She is seeking compensation for 17 alleged damages.
WFAA reached out to USA Cheer for comment but did not hear back before publication.
