First, there was the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Now, it’s the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA).
What they share in common is that both were targeted by lawyers representing concussed plaintiffs, who claimed the respective associations did not do enough to protect their clients — high school athletes — from sustaining concussions or recovering from them.
While the lawsuit aimed at the IHSA was dismissed (See the December 2015 issue of Concussion Litigation Reporter), the complaint filed in the Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas against the PIAA was just filed last month.
Representing the plaintiffs are Dallas-based Carpenter and Schumacher, P.C., and the Pennsylvania firms of Robert Peirce & Associates P.C., Bellissimo & Peirce and Medure, Bonner, Bellissimo, Peirce & Daley.
Plaintiffs Jonathan Hites, Kaela Zingaro, and Domenic Teolis seek unspecified monetary damages. The complaint states that Hites suffered a concussion in 2011 while attending a team football camp at Slippery Rock University. He allegedly still experiences learning and social difficulties. Zingaro suffered a concussion in 2014 while playing in a high school softball game. While doctors cleared her to return to play two months later, she allegedly still suffers headaches and has trouble concentrating. Teolis claimed he suffered multiple concussions in his freshman year of high school during football practices and games. The attorneys claim Teolis reported concussive symptoms to a trainer and coaches, but nothing was done until his parents took him to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.
The plaintiffs allege that the PIAA violated state law by not:
requiring concussion baseline tests;
tracking and reporting concussions;
requiring qualified medical personnel be present at all PIAA-sanctioned practices and events;
removing athletes with apparent concussions from practices and games;
taking measures to educate school personnel on how to provide proper medical responses to suspected concussions; and
providing resources for student-athletes in seeking professional medical care at the time of a concussion, during treatment or for post-injury monitoring.
Pennsylvania is one of the more progressive states in the country with the Youth in Sports Safety Act. It requires that all high school coaches pass tests related to concussion management. Furthermore, officials must remove a player believed to have had a concussion and have that player evaluated by someone who is trained in the management, care and treatment of concussions. Some schools have voluntarily implemented preseason baseline assessments for concussions as well as installed more stringent concussion protocols involving the assistance of brain injury specialists.
According to William C. Welch, MD, president of the Pennsylvania Neurosurgical Society and a practicing neurosurgeon at the University of Pennsylvania, “there is a greater awareness of concussions today than there were years ago. State law has raised the awareness level, and when someone has their ‘bell rung’ there seems to be more caution.”
The state law has several parts. The most important section of the law is likely the mandatory online training course that each coach must complete every year. The course, titled “Concussion in Sports—What You Need to Know” and provided by the National Federation of State High School Associations, explains the science behind concussions and trains the coaches to recognize the symptoms. As part of the training, coaches are taught, “when in doubt, sit them out.”
The law also provides guidance on the steps that must be taken for a student-athlete to return to competition. In a nutshell, the coach is not permitted to return a player to participation until the athlete is evaluated and cleared for return in writing by an appropriate medical professional. Specifically, the medical professional must be a licensed physician, certified health care professional, or psychologist trained in the evaluation and management of concussions.
Coaches who do not comply face harsh penalties. A first violation requires suspension for the rest of the season. Second violation adds a suspension for the next season, while a third violation is a permanent suspension from coaching.
Some are pessimistic about the lawsuit’s chances for success.
Hosea Harvey, a Temple University law school professor, told the media that the suit “will lose.”
The professor further claimed that the lawsuit filed in Lawrence County “cuts and pastes” whole sections from the complaint filed in Illinois, which was dismissed.
