Yet another lawsuit has been filed by a cheerleader and/or her family after the cheerleader suffered a concussion.
The latest case involves Mikaila Manjarrez, a Washington state teenager whose mother sued the Hillsboro School District and her daughter’s coaches last month, claiming they failed to protect her from head injuries.
In a freak accident, Manjarrez alleged that she was repeatedly tossed in the air as part of an attempted routine and that her teammates failed to “properly” catch her. She reportedly hit her head on the knee of a fellow cheerleader one or more times. The then-14-year-old claimed she was hit in the head by a stray football shortly thereafter, according to her attorney, Lori Deveny of Portland, Oregon. “The coaches laughed it off even when she told them,” Deveny told the media.
Manjarrez was diagnosed in 2010 with a head injury resulting from “multiple blows she sustained to her head while cheerleading,” according to a lawsuit filed by her mother, Jazmin Manjarrez.
In the lawsuit, which was filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court, the girl’s mother alleged that the coaches failed to properly instruct the Century High School cheerleaders in their stunts and failed to refer her daughter for an evaluation after the accident as required under Oregon’s concussion law.
Specifically, the lawsuit claims coaches Jennifer Whetsell and Chelsea Reynolds failed to adequately supervise the cheerleading activities; failed to properly instruct the cheerleaders in lifts, flying maneuvers, catches and other stunts and failed to refer her for evaluation, inform her mother or take action to protect her from serious injury.
Similar claims were made against the district, including failure to adequately train cheerleading staff, failing to implement Oregon’s concussion law and failing to follow its own policies to protect students.
The plaintiffs are seeking $850,000 for physical and emotional distress, medical costs and loss of earning capacity for the girl.
Media seeking comment from the school district were informed that the lawsuit had likely been turned over to the district’s liability insurance company.
“This is one of the leading areas that high school girls sustain head injuries,” Deveny told the media. “It still comes down to the level of the individual who has to realize that small injuries may be a big deal when it happens multiple times to a young person.”
