A Utah state court has dismissed two coaches from a concussion lawsuit brought by a former high school football player. The remaining defendants in the litigation are the Cache County School District and the Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA).
In so ruling, the 1st District Court dismissed the claim against the two former Ridgeline High School football coaches, Christopher and Stuart Howell, “because Plaintiff has failed to state a claim against them for which relief can be granted.” The court found the coaches are exempt under Utah’s Governmental Immunity Act from personal liability “except under very rare situations,” which did not apply in this case.
Konnor Finn, a former player at Ridgeline High School, claimed in the lawsuit that the concussion leading to the lawsuit occurred during a practice on Oct. 11, 2017. A senior, Finn collided with another player, suffering a helmet-to-helmet hit. He reported to his coach that his head hurt, and that he thought he had symptoms of a concussion.
“Following the hit, Konnor reported to his position coach, defensive line coach Stuart ‘Senior’ Howell, that his head hurt and that he thought he had a concussion and that he had concussion symptoms from the hit,” according to the complaint. “Coach Stuart Howell told Konnor to ‘man up,’ to ‘quit being a pussy,’ and ‘get back out there’ and keep playing.”
Finn said he “felt that he could not go against his coach’s instructions.” Thus, he kept playing in games and practices for two weeks, taking more hits.
He continued playing even though another coach saw him in the training room after the initial hit and noticed that he didn’t look well, and asked if he was okay. When the plaintiff told him what happened, the coach allegedly replied that the defensive coach had been “wrong to make Konnor continue to play.”
“As a result of the hit and especially from further impacts following the hit, Konnor has experienced pain and/or seizures so severe as to render him unconscious and necessitate several emergency calls resulting in ambulance transport to hospitals and hospital stays,” the complaint reads. He ultimately was admitted to Primary Children’s Hospital on Oct. 31, 2017.
Attorneys for Finn claimed he has continued to experience symptoms including “periods of blackout and memory loss, personality changes, depression and hospitalization,” and “will require continued medical care, pain management, and will suffer loss of a normal life due to the concussion injuries he sustained that were worsened by his coach sending him back.”
He missed “several months of school,” and the symptoms have not abated, according to the complaint. He has allegedly “experienced pain, confusion, blackouts, other concussion symptoms and need for significant medical treatment and pain management since the concussion occurred on or about Oct. 11, 2017.”
The complaint further notes that all high school coaches in Utah have been trained to recognize concussion symptoms, and are required to follow concussion protocol, which includes a student-athlete being cleared by medical personnel before returning to practices or competitions.
The lawsuit alleged the coaches breached their duties in several ways, including not following concussion protocols and “failing to act responsibly and failing to exercise ordinary care.”
They were shielded, however, by the aforementioned Act.
The Plaintiff’s Claims Against the School District
As for the defendant school district, the plaintiff alleged that it was both negligent and negligent in its hiring, retention and its supervision of the coaches
Through “its agents, (it) had a duty to remove Konnor from practice immediately upon Konnor’s presentation of signs and symptoms of a concussion and assure he received the appropriate evaluation and that he not return to practice or play until cleared by a qualified health care provider.
“Defendant District, should have provided concussion management training and its agents, based on this training, knew or should have known the protocol to follow when an athlete presents with signs and symptoms of a concussion, including, without limitation, helmet to helmet hits, headaches and the athlete’s own suggestion of possible signs and symptoms of a concussion.”
In addition, he claimed the district “had a duty to properly train and supervise its agents and staff at Ridgeline (whether employed, contracted or volunteer) in the proper identification and treatment of concussion or suspected concussion.
“Defendant District, had a duty to ensure that all its agents and coaching staff received concussion management training and followed required protocol, particularly, including the removal from participation of a participant who experiences and/or reports concussion symptoms as Konnor did, rather than ordering Konnor to go back into practice and continue playing.
“Defendant District, had a duty to ensure that all its agents and coaching staff received concussion management training and followed required protocol, particularly, notifying the parents or guardians of a participant who experiences and/or reports concussion symptoms as Konnor did, rather than ordering Konnor to go back into practice and continue playing and failing to notify Konnor’s parents of his injury and symptoms; especially when they knew or should have known that coaches, including Stuart Howell would instruct players to continue playing with complaints of head pain and concussion concerns.”
The Plaintiff’s Claims Against the UHSAA
The plaintiff also maintained that the district and UHSAA “are responsible for training the Districts’ and/or UHSAA’s agents involved in football at Ridgeline and such agents were under the supervision, control and authority of Defendant District and/or Defendant UHSAA regarding such training.
“Defendant District and Defendant UHSAA had a duty of reasonable care for training the Districts’ and/or UHSAA’s agents involved in football at Ridgeline such that their agents and employees would receive proper and adequate training to follow the laws of the State of Utah and UHSAA rules and guidelines including laws, rules and guidelines enacted to ensure the safety of student athletes, including, without limitation adherence to the concussion protocols outlined herein and/or to adequately observe and listen to student athletes participating in football to determine if they should be referred to a trainer and/or proper health care providers for concussion evaluation and treatment.
“At all times material, Defendant District and Defendant UHSAA either directly or through their agents, negligently trained or failed to adequately train the coaches and/or other personnel involved in football at Ridgeline when Defendant District and Defendant UHSAA knew or should have known that a failure to appropriately train such agents and coaches to observe and listen to student athletes, evaluate, assess and intervene in the event of a traumatic brain injury could result in injury or even death.
“Despite this knowledge, Defendant District and Defendant UHSAA failed to train or failed to exercise reasonable care in training the coaches and/or other personnel involved in football at Ridgeline and involved in communicating with and evaluating Konnor on the day of the Hit and after the Hit until he was properly evaluated and diagnosed with a concussion. Defendants’ breaches of their duties were the legal and direct and proximate cause of Mr. Finn’s injuries, suffering and damages and general and special damages he incurred and continues to suffer and incur as described herein and resulting second impact syndrome, pain and suffering, physical inconvenience and discomfort, loss of time, mental anguish, expenses incurred due to the medical treatment, loss of enjoyment of life. His losses are permanent and continuing and he will suffer losses in the future.”
