PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVES IN
COACH/SCHOOL LIABILITY
BRYCE P. McPARTLAND
www.cslawteam.com
800.497.1755
509.302.8807
mcpartland.bryce@gmail.com
bpm@cslawteam.com
My Perspective…
What I Hope You Get Out of This
• A Practical Guide to Safety
• BUT, ALSO IMPORTANTLY
• Give You Tools to Enjoy the Experience
of Coaching
What This Session Is Not
• Not a CYA Session
• Not Delving into Legal Minutiae (e.g.
elements of negligence)…much
• Not Legal Advice - Ask your local school
district attorney or insurance defense
counsel
• No Fear Mongering
Going to Cover…
• Most Liability Creating Situations Arise
from the Same Place
• Intentional Acts
• Negligence
• Liability Creating
Times/Locations/Situations are
Discussed in Your Handout
KEY CONCEPTS
• Keeping These in Mind Will Mitigate 95+% of Potential
Problems.
• COMMUNICATE
• Learned in Law School: If the jury doesn’t get it, it’s
not a jury problem, it’s a you problem…
• PLAN
• CARE
• DO WHAT YOU KNOW IS RIGHT. THE REST WILL,
MORE THAN LIKELY, WORK OUT.
The Framework
•
•
•
•
Parents Want to Trust
Required by Law to Trust
Once Broken…It’s On.
At the same time….being a decent human
being will almost invariably go a long way
• Example: The Myth of Legal/Medical
Malpractice
What Does It Mean to Be Liable?
• A Liable Person Pays Money for Harms
& Losses Caused By Their Intentional
Acts or Negligent Acts/Omissions….
• Ok…so what?
Intentional Acts
• Assault
• Sex & Related
Contact
• As it Turns Out,
Avoiding These is
Relatively Easy…
Ramifications of Intentional
Acts
• Generally - No Insurance Coverage I.e. No IDA
• Criminal Charges
• Personal Assets Subject to Judgment
• Virtually Guaranteed to be a Career
Changing Experience
Negligence…
• 4 Elements of Negligence…seen them
discussed in the past.
• Not Especially Meaningful…
• Why Not?
Elements Not Helpful Because…
• Assume You Have a
Duty…
• You Probably Do!
• Once Someone is Hurt,
It’s Too Late, and…
• Even with a PreExisting Condition, Most
People Will Believe it
Arose on the Date of
Incident
• Most Important Thing:
Standard of Care (I.e.
whether or not a duty
was breached)
• How Do I Know?!?!?
• “Reasonable Person”
• What does that mean….
RULES OF THE ROAD
(The Interactive Portion of Our Program)
Coaches Also Have Rules of the Road
• General Coaching Standards; e.g. practice
requirements
• General Athlete Medical Issues; e.g. dealing with
asthma or diabetes
• Sport Specific - e.g. Carabba
Making the Case Against You
Determining the Standard of Care
•
•
•
•
•
Other Coaches
Coaching Handbooks & Sport Specific Knowledge
Your Own Background & Training
First Aid / CPR Training
Continuing Education (including WIAA Coaches’
School!)
• BTW - Don’t think you’ll just skip it!
CONCUSSIONS & MISC.
MEDICAL CONDITIONS
•
•
•
•
•
“Lystedt Law”
RCW 28A.600.190
Put Doubts Aside
Other Medical Conditions - Treat Them Similarly
Last Week’s NBC Camp - 2 Concussions
BULLYING
• RCW 28A.600.480
• Immunity When Reported
• Flip-side of the Statute…
Liable for Failure to Report
• Practical Perspective Team Unity Issue
• http://www.active.com/mind
andbody/articles/Coach_sGuide-to-Bullying-inSports.htm
Quick Anecdotes
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Wrestling Case
PE Teacher Case
Bullying Case
Over-pitching
Basketball Court Condition
Equipment Condition; e.g. football helmets
See also: Your handout
STAYING OUT OF TROUBLE
Not Particularly Complicated…
• Successful Coaching is 100% Consistent With Liability
Conscious Coaching
• That Doesn’t Mean Cower in Fear of Being Sued
• It DOES Mean That Many of the Things That Make a
Coach/Program Successful, ALSO Happen to Protect a
Coach/School from Liability
What Does That Mean?
(This is as close to CYA as we’ll get today)
• Set Clear Standards and Expectations for Players and Parents
–
–
–
–
Hint: Most people’s idea of clear is “not clear.”
“I told you/him/her/them…” sucks.
You’re not that busy…email and respond to email.
Kill a Tree…
• Be Consistent
• Be Clear in Your Communications to Players (Be Doubly Clear
to Parents)
• If a Disagreement Arises, Involve Your Athletic Director Early.
• If Something Actually Happens, Make Sure You Respond
Quickly and Appropriately.
• If Something Actually Happens, it is NOT CYA Time.
“Your” Liability
• Mentioned fear mongering early on…
• Putting intentional acts aside
• INSURER’S DUTY - Generally, a duty to defend for
covered events (subject to policy language, nearly all
acts alleged to be “negligent” will have coverage),
and generally adequate policy limits.
• INSURED’S DUTY - Duty to report & cooperate
candidly with investigation
• They are your insurance and if a claim is
unreasonably denied such that your personal assets
are exposed, you may have a claim against the
insurer.
• Westside Case (SC’s) - Did not sue teacher / 150k
settlement.
QUESTIONS or
CONCERNS???
• Email: mcpartland.bryce@gmail.com
• Phone: 800.497.1755
• www.calbomschwab.com or
www.cslawteam.com
• School District Counsel
• Insurance Defense Counsel