A Pennsylvania jury has returned a verdict for the West Mifflin (Pennsylvania) Area School District and governing bodies of high school athletics in that state in a high-profile concussion case.
The decision was disappointment for plaintiff Shane Skillpa, a 2012 graduate of West Mifflin, who alleged in 2017 that the school district as well as the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, Inc. (PIAA) and the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) were negligent because they did not have the proper concussion protocols in place and failed to adequately treat the plaintiff after he suffered a concussion in practice.
Skillpa, who was seeking $5 million, had alleged that in a 2009 practice that the coaches directed him to participate in an “Oklahoma Drill,” where two players purposefully collide to demonstrate superior athletic strength. In this instance, the collision between the plaintiff and another player cracked Skillpa’s helmet. He further alleged that he was never evaluated by medical personnel and returned to practice 15 to 20 minutes later with a new helmet. The plaintiff continued to participate in practices over the next couple days, then developed flu-like symptoms, which were later diagnosed as a concussion, according to the lawsuit.
In September 2016, Skillpa was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, allegedly stemming from the concussion he suffered in August 2009. Heading into the trial, his attorneys maintained that he currently suffers from cognitive impairment, organic affective disorder, and PTSD. His attorney maintained in the media that his client’s life expectancy has been significantly reduced because of the concussion.
The jury, seated in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, heard ten days of testimony. Notable was the expert testimony of Dr. Bennet Omalu, who claimed that Skillpa currently suffers from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. Skillpa’s attorney, Richard Sandow, reportedly said in his closing argument that “this is something Shane is going to face every single day for the rest of his life. The people who caused it should have to compensate him for it.” Furthermore, he said, the governing bodies shirked their responsibility to “promote, protect and conserve the health and physical welfare of all participants,” which “served as a contract with the students.”
“There’s overwhelming evidence they did not provide for Shane’s safety,” he said. “It was a drill that was unsafe and had a much higher risk for injury.”
Defense attorneys argued successfully that the coaches did not know Skillpa was injured, which is why they did not remove him. “Mr. Skillpa never reported this to anyone,” Attorney Joseph Luvara said. “There’s been no testimony the coaches knew he was injured to remove him from play.”
They were also persuasive in their argument that there was no objective medical evidence presented at trial to link Skillpa’s symptoms to the concussion he suffered in the 2009 practice.
Defense attorney Andrew Kimball suggested that because the governing bodies are nonprofit organizations that provide guidance to 1,500 schools that represent 350,000 students in 16 different sports, they must rely on high school administrators to ensure student athletes are being treated appropriately. He also pointed out that his clients provide sports medicine guidelines that list concussion protocols, but they are not rules, and thus they weren’t required to meet the alleged “standard of care.”
