United States Track & Field is suing chairperson Mike Conley for breach of fiduciary duty

© Copyright – 2025 – Athletics Illustrated

The governing body of the sport of athletics in the U.S., the USATF, is suing chairperson Mike Conley. Meanwhile, at least 15 staff members have vacated the organization since mid-2024.

Staff churn

In January, the chief of athlete services and international teams, Aretha Thurmond, left. Communications officer Aarti Parekh left. Soon after, communications manager Natalie Uhl moved on to TrackTown USA, having spent almost four years in Indianapolis. Staff churn is expected, but these are key roles. Others have moved on, too.

There are approximately 100 staff members. Fifteen per cent turnover in a year is not entirely unusual; however, it is interesting that at the same time, the USATF is going ahead with the suit against the 62-year-old Chicago native and former international athlete, Conley.

Meanwhile, Nike Inc. props the organization to the tune of roughly 30 million dollars annually.

On June 18, 2025, the USATF filed its complaint against Conley for breach of fiduciary duty during his time as Chairperson.

The complaint

The USATF complaint against Conley alleges that communications between Conley and Jim Estes indicate a high level of coordination and collusion between them. This is with regard to attempting to win the national Olympic marathon trials for Chattanooga, Tennessee. The location lost their bid, and the national championships and Olympic trials went to Orlando, FLA.

“Equally troubling is Conley’s ongoing refusal in the litigation discovery process to comply with USATF’s request for documents and communications relevant to Estes’ lawsuit. Conley’s refusal to comply with USATF’s document requests has impeded USATF’s ability to defend itself in the ongoing litigation and risks subjecting USATF to potential sanctions by the Court. As of the date of the filing of this Third-Party Complaint, Conley still has not provided USATF with any documents and communications relevant to these legal proceedings.”

Conley was president and remains on the board of directors of World Sport Chicago. The organization is the legacy fund of Chicago’s 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Bid, which focuses on promoting and developing sports programs and events for youth in Chicago.

Previously, he was the executive director of the Elite Athletes program for USATF. Conley is presently serving as chairperson on the High Performance committee for the organization.

He is also the CEO of MMG, which is a sports management group. Conley represents his National Basketball Association-playing son, Mike Conley Jr., who currently plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

There could be bad blood

In September 2023, USATF board member Estes filed a lawsuit in Marion County, Ind., against the USATF, CEO Max Siegel, and COO Renee Washington. Estes alleged negligence by the USATF and Washington, as well as defamation and invasion of privacy by Siegel.

This was related to the 2024 Trials. On the same day USATF awarded the Trials to Orlando, Siegel wrote a letter to the Chattanooga Sports Commission — the only other city bidding for the event. This was to let them know they had been disqualified from the bidding process due to conflicts of interest involving Estes.

Allegedly, it was a conflict of interest when Estes was simultaneously a board member and a consultant for Chattanooga’s bid.

In November of 2024, the USATF filed a counterclaim against Estes.