California Appeals Court Affirms Cheerleader Assumed Risk in Case Involving Multiple Concussions

A California state appeals court has affirmed a lower court’s ruling that a cheerleader assumed the risk of injury when, after suffering a pair of head injuries, she returned to practice and suffered a concussion, leaving her with “continuing neurological consequences.”   Central to the ruling was the appeals court’s finding that cheer is inherently dangerous and that the defendants did not escalate the risk.   Plaintiff Shelbie Stevens was a student at Azusa Pacific University