Richard Thomas Case Summary

Richard Thomas was a participant in the Special Olympics that does have a degree of mental retardation. He had been active in the Special Olympics throughout 1991 and 1992. It was during this period of time where numerous complaints were filed against Thomas. These complaints ranged from accusations that he exhibited poor sportsmanship, lacked social skills, and showed disrespect for personnel, to more serious complaints that he harassed other athletes and placed inappropriate phone calls to family members of employees. Mr. Thomas had a history of this kind of behavior having been removed from three other programs including Jackson County Park and Recreation in Area IV for disciplinary problems. The Special Olympics had no choice but to investigate

Mr. Thomas’ mental retardation is what allowed him to compete in the Special Olympics. However, in this case study it is never mentioned that Thomas’ physician had warned the committee that Thomas could potentially exhibit erratic behavior. Thomas was given numerous warnings advising him that he can still participate in their competition barring that his behavior was acceptable. Competing in the Special Olympics is a privilege and not a right. I understand that he probably could not control his behavior but where were his parents to control him during times like this? After being removed from multiple programs before this, I doubt that there was a medical opinion on Thomas’ condition that reasonably explained why he exhibited such behavior. As a sports management professional, I also would have no longer permitted Thomas to compete in competition. He failed to control his behavior after being given numerous chances to do so. Also, the investigation that was conducted showed that other competitors feared his harassing behavior. An organization like the Special Olympics has to consider all of its competitors in situations like this and create a standard that this type of behavior would not be