By Christopher Calnan
The family of a Mount Ida College football player, who in 2011 died of a heart attack after a winter conditioning session, is suing the college and related insurance companies.
New Jersey residents Donald and Dara Mazza are seeking punitive and compensatory damages from both the college and the National Collegiate Athletic Association because the February 2016 workout was done at a campus training facility under school supervision. Their son, sophomore Michael Mazza, suffered a seizure and “probable cardiac dysrhythmia” after the training session. The lawsuit claims the session was a “covered event” described by the NCAA’s insurance benefits summary, according to the wrongful death lawsuit initially filed in February in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Monmouth County.
The claim, which names four different insurance companies and brokers as defendants, doesn’t list a specific dollar amount for damages.
Mount Ida College is a Division III school in Newton, Massachusetts, a Boston suburb. The team listed Michael Mazza as a 6-foot, 3-inch, 295-pound offensive lineman. He was 20 years old with no apparent history of heart problems when he died within 45 minutes of returning to his college dorm room after the Feb. 22, 2016, workout, the lawsuit states.
The NCAA has recognized that sudden cardiac arrest death is a common risk for college athletes, yet Mazza’s family was denied compensation after his death, according to New Jersey attorney John Tatulli, who is representing the family.
“… Michael’s family has received only rejection letters from the insurance companies and Mt. Ida College,” Tatulli wrote in a two-page letter to the NCAA. “This callous response makes the entire situation even more heart-wrenching and anguishing for Michael’s parents and family. … This situation is unacceptable and must be resolved.”
Wrongful death lawsuits involving athletes are becoming more common since a degenerative brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, was found in athletes and others with histories of repetitive brain trauma. Heightened awareness and commensurate publicity have fueled the claims, said Steven Pachman, an attorney specializing in sports injuries for Philadelphia-based Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads LLP.
Such cases typically depend on proving breach of duty to conduct proper health screening and testing of athletes coupled with adequate emergency response plans. Mazza’s claim is complicated by his location in the dormitory after the team conditioning activity because emergency response plans by team officials wouldn’t have been a factor, Pachman said.
Mount Ida is going through an ownership change that may become an obstacle to the Mazza family. In May, the Massachusetts attorney general approved an $86.5 million sale to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Officials typically investigate the unnatural deaths of young, seemingly healthy student-athletes. In some cases, such as the death of 21-year old Kent State football player Jason Bitsko in 2014 due to natural causes (an enlarged heart), there is no basis for a lawsuit. The proximate cause of Bitsko’s death, who was found unresponsive in bed at his off-campus apartment, was not negligence, but rather a diagnosed medical condition.
However, other occurrences have resulted in litigation. One such case was the 2008 death of Erick Plancher, a wide receiver at the University of Central Florida. Plancher had sickle cell anemia, a condition that disrupts oxygen flow throughout the body when under intense physical distress. UCF coaches, with knowledge of his potentially life-threatening condition, allegedly pushed Plancher too hard in practice leading to cardiac arrest.
Plancher’s family filed a wrongful death suit on the grounds that the collective negligence of the UCF athletic association, coaches, and staff caused their son’s death. The Plancher family obtained a judgment for $10 million, but an appeals court reversed the decision.
“The court ruled UCF’s power of control over its athletics association — UCFAA — was sufficient for sovereign immunity afforded to state agencies in civil judgments,” The Associated Press reported. “The $200,000 figure is the most a state agency is required to pay under legislative statute. Any higher amount requires approval of the legislature.”
Last year, Sports Litigation Alert reported about a Kent State football player who died after suddenly collapsing during a preseason conditioning session. The 19-year-old offensive lineman, incoming freshman Tyler Heintz, died of what was later ruled by an Ohio coroner as exertional heat stroke. The condition is the result of a body’s high—usually about 104 degrees or more—core temperature associated with hyperthermia, meaning the body can’t cool down properly. There’s been no indication of any dispute over family compensation.
In 2016, the parents of a Division III football player in Maryland reached a $1.2 million settlement agreement with the NCAA and other defendants in connection to a fullback who died from a head injury suffered in practice. The player, Frostburg State University senior Derek Sheely, suffered from “second-impact syndrome” that occurs from a head trauma before a player recovers from a previously sustained concussion. Sheely had complained to a coach about a headache during practice and was ordered back into a dangerous drill before losing consciousness, Athletic Business reported.
Sheely’s parents had sued in 2013 for $1.6 million. A family attorney characterized the case as a “landmark settlement” because it put the NCAA and other college football stakeholders on notice that they would be held accountable for the safety of participating athletes, AP reported.
The vast majority of athlete wrongful death claims have been settled before trial. And fueled by the publicity surrounding CTE, their frequency is expected to rise, Pachman said.
“These cases are going to continue to be filed,” he said.
