Soccer Coach Sued For Allegations of Injury After Not Following Concussion Protocols
Interesting reasons for judgement were recently published by the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia allowing a lawsuit to continue against a youth soccer coach based on allegations that she made a concussion worse by allowing an athlete to continue playing contrary to concussion protocols.
In the recent case (Rutt v. Meade) the Plaintiff was injured in a vehicle collision and sued for damages. The alleged injuries included a concussion.
A few weeks after the crash the Plaintiff played in a national soccer tournament for her club.
The Defendants in the car crash lawsuit brought a third party action against the soccer club and the coach arguing it was negligent to allow the Plaintiff to play soccer while she was still dealing with concussive injuries from the crash and that participation in sport was contrary to the established concussion protocols and this added to her prolonged injury. The coach and club asked to be let out of the lawsuit arguing they could not be responsible for the concussion which was caused by the car crash.
In denying the application and allowing the third party claim to continue the Court noted that depending on how the facts play out a coach could be found legally liable in such circumstances. In allowing the claim to proceed Justice Gail L. Gatchalian provided the following reasons: