Judge Awards Texas Football Officials $400,000
RACINE, Wis. — On June 9, 2010, a Bexar County District Judge issued a judgment awarding more than $400,000 in sanctions and fees to five Texas football officials against an insurance company for filing a frivolous lawsuit.
The lawsuit stems from an injury suffered by a high school football coach, Terry English, during a football game at Brackenridge High School in 2004. During the course of a play, English stepped onto the field and in front of official Charles Harpole, who was running down the sideline. They collided and English suffered serious brain injuries.
Midwest Casualty, the insurance company that had to pay English’s health care costs, subsequently filed a lawsuit in 2006 against Harpole and the other officials who worked the game — Jim Carroll, Alan Kwast, Albert Lopez and Brock Pittman. Midwest sought to hold the officials jointly and severally liable for the injuries suffered by English.
A trial court twice dismissed the lawsuit against the officials, but Midwest pursued the matter to the San Antonio Court of Appeals.
At the request of the officials’ attorneys and the Texas Association of Sports Officials, NASO stepped up to support the officials in April 2009 by filing an amicus brief on behalf of the crew to the appeals court. Harpole is not an NASO member, but NASO’s board reviewed the matter and unanimously decided to get involved for the good of officiating.
“We at NASO feel the matter at stake is of significance to all officials, football and all other sports,” NASO president Barry Mano said at the time. “We feel it is vital to prevail upon the appeals court on the basis presented in this amicus.”
In June 2009, the court of appeals ruled that Midwest had no evidence to support its claim against the football officials, and the court dismissed Midwest’s claims on summary judgment. Austin attorney Gary Schumann, who represented the officials, said the NASO amicus provided multiple benefits.
“On the one hand, it bolstered the legal arguments and provided additional support for the court to make the ruling the way it did,” Schumann said. “The amicus can argue public policy issues and sort of provide a broader public view to the court than the parties that actually have a dog in the fight. … The other benefit of the amicus is that it lets the court know that there’s a constituency out there that cares about this — that there are people who care about this above and beyond the actual parties to the litigation.”
The officials had originally filed a counterclaim against Midwest, arguing Midwest’s lawsuit against them was frivolous because there was no basis in the law or facts to hold the officials liable for the coach’s injuries. That case was tried in a bench trial on May 17.
Bexar County District Court Judge David A. Berchelmann, Jr., who conducted the bench trial, awarded $50,000 each in sanctions to the officials. The judge also awarded the men $145,000 in attorneys’ fees and $8,193.99 in court costs.
“It is extraordinarily rare for a court to sanction someone for simply bringing a lawsuit, however this lawsuit had so little merit that sanctions were justified,” Schumann said. “This ruling should send a very strong signal to the legal community against filing lawsuits against sports officials trying to hold the officials liable for onfield accidents.”