Sports Law Outline

Sports Law Outline
I.       Intro
a.      Buyout Clause or liquidated damages clause
                                                               i.      Allows both parties to end K prematurely by paying some predetermined amount
                                                             ii.      Referred to as termination w/out cause
                                                           iii.      What are the options? Remaining years/salary; set amount; sliding scale; reciprocal?
                                                           iv.      Courts do not want it to be a penalty, prefer estimate of damages; Why not a penalty?
                                                             v.      Money should go to compensate the school for “damage” done for the coach leaving but not a penalty.
                                                           vi.      Public policy values employment flexibility and mobility. Therefore, people should not be penalized for doing it.
                                                         vii.      Obligation to pay is w/ coach, but who pays?
b.     Rich Rodriguez Case
                                                               i.      2nd year in a row UM hired coach from WVU and triggered buyout issue
                                                             ii.      Beilein case resulted in settlement
                                                           iii.      RR is WVU alum, native son, most popular person in state
                                                           iv.      Alabama offered job after 2006 season, stayed at WVU with K revisions (more $, more years; agreed to $4mil buyout)
                                                             v.      After 1 year, UM offered RR job and he accepted
                                                           vi.      Dispute began on buyout provisions
II.    Chapter 6 Narrative Torts
a.      Negligence
                                                               i.      General
1.      Def: any conduct that falls below the reasonable man standard
2.      D act or omission must be the proximate cause of the injury
3.      Must be an established duty, breach of the duty, prox cause b/w D action and the injury, damages that result
a.       Duty
b.      Breach
c.       Causation
d.      Damages
                                                           ii.      Duty of Care
1.      Duty must exist for a negligence COA
2.      Case
·         Kleinecht v. Gettysburg College
o       Facts
§         Student athlete Drew was recruited for LAX and died at practice after having cardiac arrest
§         No trainers were at the field, coaches not trained in CPR, and no radio at the field to contact trainers
§         To get to the training facility, the most direct route called for scaling an 8 foot wall
§         Another teammate ran to get the trainer, Moore, who arrived but not administer CPR b/c she thought Drew was still breathing.
§         Head trainer Donnelli arrived and administered CPR until the ambulance came. 
§         Drew died.
§         Klienknechts assert 3 theories of liability
·         special relationship b/w college and student athletes
·         foreseeability that a student athlete may suffer cardiac arrest while playing
·         public policy
o       ISSUE
§         Whether a duty existed between the school and the collegiate athlete while engaged in a school supervised activity. (either b/c of special relationship or foreseeability)
o       Holding
§         Yes. There was a duty owed to Drew as an intercollegiate athlete engaged in a school-sponsored activity for which he had been recruited.
o       Reasoning
§         In order to determine liability for negligence, the court first decided that b/c Drew was engaged in intercollegiate athletics while the injury occurred, imposes a duty on the college who recruited him.
§         The court determined that the harm was foreseeable b/c student athletes may sustain life-threatening injuries while playing sports. And they also determined that the failure to provide against the risk was unreasonable. 
o       Kleinecht issues
§         The court focused on varsity athlete that was recruited:
·         Only duty to varsity athlete who was recruited
·         All varsity athletes?
a.       Probably a duty
3.      Intramural/club athletes?
a.       According to Kleinecht, probably not.
                                                           iii.      Standard of Care and Breach of Duty
1.      A breach is determined by the applicable standard of care and whether the D’s conduct fell below that standard.
2.      The more foreseeable the injury the higher the standard
3.      General standard of care
a.       Reasonable person acting under similar circumstances
                                                           iv.      Proximate Cause
1.      Prox cause is: the connection b/w the negligent act and the injury
2.      Defà
a.       In the natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by an efficient intervening cause, produces the injury, w/o which the injury would not have occurred.
                                                             v.      Damages
1.      Injured party must suffer damages
b.      Medical Malpractice
                                                               i.      General
1.      In sports, medical personal duties toward athletes include
a.       Duty to disclose
b.      Duty to instruct
c.       Duty to disclose whether the physician is employed by a third party
d.      Duty t