Lee's removal occurred in April. The Olympics run from Aug. 13 to 29, with taekwondo scheduled to start Aug. 26.

"The U.S. Olympic Committee has no plans to change the lawsuit based on Mr. Lee's improper lawsuit," said Jeff Benz, general counsel of the USOC, which is located in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Benz said the USOC denies the allegations made by Lee and that Lee and his counsel should have sought arbitration.

"The rules resolving cases are clear," Benz said. "They don't allow you to resort to court. It's unfortunate that Mr. Lee and his counsel have chose to ignore the law."

Lee's suit was filed in U.S. District Court and his attorney, Ward D. Jones of the firm Bervar & Jones, is seeking an accelerated hearing.

"It's not surprising that they would take that position," Jones said of the USOC. "They are not going to admit that they excluded Master Lee because of race."

The U.S. Taekwondo Center said Lee was out of town yesterday.

The U.S. Taekwondo Union in Colorado Springs approved Lee as the head coach in March 2003 and later sent him to Athens, Greece on a site visit. The USOC approved Lee's nomination as coach in October.

In February, a new management group appointed by the USOC assumed control of the union to clean up years of alleged fiscal mismanagement and misappropriation of money by the union.

The five-member Governance and Management Committee is composed of Juan Moreno, taekwondo Olympian; Tony Baggiano of USA Water Ski; Steve Locke, former executive director of the U.S. triathlon union and current member of their board; Virginia Witte, USOC internal auditor, and Rich Bender, executive director of USA Wrestling.

The group reevaluated the coach selection criteria and suggested Lee be replaced.

"Mr. Lee appears to ignore the fact that not only he failed to qualify an athlete in the Games but individuals reflecting the diversity of American society were selected and they qualified athletes in the Games," Benz said.

Head coach Jean Lopez and assistant Chul Ho Kim, who were appointed last Monday, are the coaches of the only two U.S. athletes to qualify. Lopez is the brother and coach of Steven Lopez, a 2000 gold medalist, and Kim is the coach of Nia Abdallah.

"The coaching staff that's being sent to the Games are responsible for the athletes who will be in the game," Benz said.

Lee, a nine-time U.S. national champion and four-time gold medalist at the Pan American Games, claims he is more qualified for the position. The Moanalua High and University of Hawai'i alum coached the U.S. Pan American team last year, and was an uncertified coach on the 2000 Olympic team.