By Gina McKlveen
Last month the attorney for a former UCLA offensive lineman, who was suing the University, ex-head coach Jim Mora, and the NCAA for injuries he suffered following multiple concussions, filed a “conditional” settlement with the Santa Monica Superior Court.
The former Bruins player, Poasi Moala, was recruited by Mora, UCLA’s then-head coach, in 2013. Afterwards, Moala suffered multiple head injuries that resulted in concussions as well as serious hip injuries that eventually required numerous operations. Moala alleged that by the end of the 2013 season his injuries became so severe that the 265-lbs athlete could barely squat, let alone play through an entire football game. Despite making his injuries known to Mora and the Bruins team over the course of three years, Moala claimed that his coaches continued to dismiss the player’s injuries and downplay his issues, often disregarding or ridiculing him altogether.
Once the team allowed Moala to become X-rayed and receive an MRI, the results showed several severely torn tissues along the player’s right hip. The medical examination also revealed lesions, damaged tissue, around both of Moala’s hips—a type of injury that Moala asserted could have been prevented, or at least minimized, had the team taken his medical concerns seriously much sooner.
Instead, Moala’s complaint alleged that whenever the former Bruins player complained about the pain he was experiencing, his UCLA coaches and trainers told him that his hips were just tight and that if he stretched them out the cause of his pain would be resolved. Likewise, with respect to Moala’s head injuries, the complaint stated his concerns were not taken seriously by the UCLA team.
Prior to joining the team Moala had no prior history of head injuries, but by August 2013 he was regularly subjected to repeated hitting during repetitive head-to-head contact drills during practices that resulted in two documented concussions throughout his UCLA football career.
Such conduct is a similar subject of another lawsuit filed by Moala’s teammate, John Lopez, another former UCLA offensive lineman. Lopez, like Moala, was recruited by UCLA’s former head coach, Mora, in 2013. He attested that he suffered his first-ever concussion shortly thereafter during the team’s annual summer training camp.
Lopez later suffered two more concussions—a second one at the Bruins summer training camp in 2014, and a third and final one in 2015 that was so severe that he was forced to medically retire by his junior year. His symptoms and brain injuries from these concussions resulted in drastic changes in his demeanor, including short term memory loss, depression, and anxiety. By 2016, Lopez was unable to attend classes to complete his college degree and attempted to commit suicide by overdosing on a combination of over-the-counter and prescription medications. The player’s complaint claimed that both the UCLA, its coaches, and the NCAA failed to protect him from these injuries.
Again, similar to Moala, while Lopez was still playing on the team, he reported his injuries to the coaches and trainers, but rather than being taken seriously, he was ridiculed by them for his injuries instead of being appropriately treated. Lopez’s lawsuit alleged that the team’s culture of “no excuses” cultivated by Mora subjected him to drills described as “unnecessarily brutal” which required players to practice at full speed with no safeguards against helmet-to-helmet contact. This culture of “no excuses” also contributed the lack of complete implementation of post-concussion symptom protocol, which Moala’s complaint alleged was put in place “just for show” and was not actually followed in “any meaningful way.”
Both Moala and Lopez, therefore, accused UCLA of failing to follow proper concussion protocol. A third former UCLA offensive lineman, Zach Bateman is also suing based on his UCLA football related injuries. Like his two former teammates, Bateman expressed symptoms of injuries in both his feet, but claimed he was discouraged from seeking medical attention for his injuries. Instead, he was compelled to return to the field to play before receiving any medical treatment and before allowing his injuries to heal. Dissatisfied with UCLA’s response, Bateman sought off-campus medical treatment, immediately receiving an MRI that revealed two fractures to his right foot.
Bateman was the only UCLA player of the three former offensive linemen, not to name the NCAA as a defendant in his lawsuit. When all three of these players’ lawsuits were filed in 2019, each plaintiff sought over $15 million dollars. In the past three years, NCAA attorneys have stated that the organization has no legal duty to either Moala or Lopez for their injuries. The NCAA also previously claimed that it had no direct oversight or control over the student-athletes at UCLA.
Currently, Moala’s recent settlement with the NCAA offers no further details as to the contents of the agreement between the parties. In the past, the attorney for all three players, Pamela Tahim Thakur, has stated that her clients’ health and safety was clearly disregarded by the UCLA coaching staff. Whether the University and the NCAA maintains its position that student-athlete health and safety is a top-priority remains to be realized so long as protocols meant to protect players, like Moala, are continuously disregarded by those put in charge.
