A former student athlete on the Bucknell University wrestling team sued the school, claiming it was negligent when it missed or ignored symptoms associated with the concussions he suffered while competing for the school.
As a result of Bucknell’s alleged transgressions, plaintiff Eric Harris claimed, in the lawsuit, that he suffers from post-concussion syndrome, which has allegedly prevented him from earning a degree and/or obtaining employment.
Harris, 26, is “a student athlete suffering from the permanent and debilitating effects of concussions, left neglected and abandoned by his university,” according to the complaint. “Harris will now forever pay the price for Bucknell’s failures, living with the long-term effects of repetitive brain injury.”
Bucknell has been down this road before with Harris. He sued the university and the NCAA in 2014 in Philadelphia County. That suit was reportedly withdrawn five months later, but not before the school provided more than 300 pages of athletic and medical records related to Harris.
Harris was a highly sought-after wrestler in Wyoming when the Bucknell coaching staff began recruiting him to their Division I program. Once in the fold, it did not take long for the controversy to begin. As a freshman in 2007, Harris allegedly suffered a concussion, and then seven days later was permitted to compete in the Navy Classic tournament. The complaint noted that there was no evidence that Harris had been diagnosed with a concussion after the injury, as required by university concussion protocol, and there was nothing to show that he was symptom free or cleared by a team physician for return to play. Harris reportedly suffered another head injury in the Navy Classic tournament.
Harris took the next two years off to participate in a Mormon mission. He then returned to the school for the 2010-11 school year. The plaintiff claimed that he suffered another concussion during a match in February 2011 when the back of his head crashed into a block wall unprotected by a mat, according to the lawsuit. That concussion ended his career.
Harris claimed, in his lawsuit, that his condition grew progressively worse. He cited one example in March of 2012, where he had to be escorted by a university professor to the school’s health center after he appeared to be out of sorts in the classroom. Harris subsequently withdrew from school in the spring of 2013.
In support of his claim, the plaintiff noted that a medical exam in December of 2014 revealed that he sustained six concussions, including one in high school and five in college. Further, the lawsuit alleges, the exam revealed Harris suffers from mild-to-moderate brain damage. In support of his claim, the plaintiff noted that Wyoming’s Social Security Administration has declared him disabled.
Harris claimed that the school failed to follow its own established concussion protocol, which includes a five-step recovery program that involves baseline testing and a declaration by a team physician that the student athlete can return to play.
Harris is represented by Douglas N. Engelman of Lepley, Engelman & Yaw, Williamsport; Joseph J. Siprut and Michael L. Silverman, of Siprut, PC, Chicago; and Eric F. Quandt of Quandt Law, Chicago.
Engelman has been in civil practice for more than 25 years. His practice is centered on personal injury and civil litigation.
Quandt is a medical malpractice attorney, who worked both sides of the fence. In fact, in the 1990s he successfully defended Northwestern University against a scholarship athlete who sought to join the men’s basketball team despite receiving a defibrillator implant for a heart condition.
Siprut, meanwhile, has been very active in representing plaintiffs in matters involving sports concussions. However, made headlines for the wrong reasons over the summer when former Eastern Illinois University football player Adrian Arrington, the lead plaintiff in the Arrington v. NCAA concussion lawsuit, terminated his relationship with Siprut and said he opposed the preliminary settlement that Siprut asked the judge to approve. Arrington released the following statement: “The preliminary settlement is completely unacceptable and I never agreed to it. In fact, the first time I learned about it was in the media. I feel that I have been misinformed and the preliminary settlement doesn’t address the reasons I filed the lawsuit in the first place. I would like the judge to reject the preliminary settlement. I plan to secure new legal representation to continue this fight to protect future players in NCAA sports.”
Expert Weighs In
“Having a concussion protocol and not following it is just as bad as not having a concussion protocol in the first place,” said Tommy Dean, an athletic trainer and owner of Concussion Solutions, LLC (www.concussion-solutions.com). “If you truly put the health and welfare of the student athlete as the overall top priority of your risk management program, these types of situations can be minimized and the long term health of the athlete can be preserved.”
