practical perspectives in coach/school liability bryce p. mcpartland 800.497.1755 509.302.8807...
TRANSCRIPT
PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVES IN COACH/SCHOOL LIABILITY
BRYCE P. McPARTLAND
www.cslawteam.com
800.497.1755
509.302.8807
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 Pre-
Existing 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 YouDetermining 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/
mindandbody/articles/Coach_s-Guide-to-Bullying-in-Sports.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 TROUBLENot 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: [email protected]
• Phone: 800.497.1755
• www.calbomschwab.com or www.cslawteam.com
• School District Counsel
• Insurance Defense Counsel