UCF has six months to respond to intent to sue notice

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3515118&campaign=rss&source=NCFHeadlines

The parents of a 19-year-old University of Central Florida football player who died following a March conditioning workout filed notice Friday that they intend to bring a wrongful death lawsuit against the school.

Ereck Plancher, a redshirt freshman wide receiver from Naples, Fla., collapsed March 18 after a 20-minute training session on the Orlando campus. Last week, the Orange County Medical Examiner said the cause of death was connected to Plancher possessing the sickle cell trait -- a condition that the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) believes has been tied to 10 deaths since 2000.

Plancher "experienced exhaustion, dizziness, shortness of breath, and other signs of extreme fatigue that were ignored by trainers and/or coaches of the University of Central Florida," according to the notice, which was sent to the chairman of the UCF Board of Trustees, as well as the Florida Department of Financial Services. "As a direct and proximate result of the University of Central Florida's negligence, Ereck Plancher collapsed and died."

Plancher's parents, Enoch and Gisele, declined comment through their lawyer, J.D. Dowell. Dowell issued a statement that read, in part: "The Plancher family has been frustrated by the fact that they have not been able to get an accurate account of what happened during the conditioning drills on March 18. They feel very strongly that they do not want any other families to go through what they are going through."

"The health of our student-athletes is our top priority, and we provide superb medical care at UCF," university spokesman Grant Heston said. "We have received the notice of claim. Per university policy, we do not comment on matters that are in pending litigation."

Head coach George O'Leary, other football personnel and athletic department officials repeatedly have declined ESPN's interview requests.

After the autopsy results were made public last week, UCF athletic director Keith Tribble said, "We have said repeatedly that Ereck passed all of his physicals and was cleared to participate fully by UCF team physicians. Our staff advised Ereck of his sickle cell trait and monitored his physical condition at every practice and workout."

The notice of intent does not mean the Planchers definitely will sue, however it is the first step required by Florida law before such a lawsuit can be brought. The school has six months to respond to the notice.

In the event the Planchers follow through with a lawsuit, their son's condition and how the school reacted to it are likely to be at the center of such a case. ESPN previously reported that UCF became aware Plancher had sickle cell trait in January 2007; the school subsequently acknowledged that coaches, trainers and Plancher himself knew he carried the trait and insisted he was treated properly.

Athletes who carry the sickle cell trait are not precluded from playing or practicing. However, in June 2007, NATA issued a consensus statement warning that athletes who possess the trait are at greater risk during extreme conditioning exercises. The statement said collapses often were associated with a series of sprints, such as "gassers," and typically occurred during the initial workouts of a season or offseason. For athletes with the trait, NATA recommended, among other things, paced progression in workouts and more time for rest and recovery.

NATA cited nine deaths (this was prior to Plancher's collapse) tied to sickle cell trait dating back to 2000.

Some medical professionals have suggested there is no clinical evidence to support NATA's statement. However, in its autopsy report, the medical examiner cited papers written by Dr. Randy Eichner, a co-chair of the NATA task force and the University of Oklahoma's team physician. The autopsy report concluded that Plancher had been "predisposed to sickling of the red blood cells during periods of physical stress."

The Orlando Sentinel, quoting four unnamed UCF players, previously reported that Plancher fell to the ground during sprints at the end of the conditioning session on March 18 -- the day before spring practice was officially scheduled to begin -- and that he showed signs of being in distress during the workout.

O'Leary told the paper he didn't see Plancher struggling and that his care was handled properly.

In April, ESPN filed a public records request to UCF seeking documents related to Plancher's death, including an internal review. UCF responded in May by providing a series of documents, mostly e-mails. However, the bulk of the material was related to media inquiries that followed the March 18 collapse.

UCF said it had the right to withhold additional material because, a) its athletic department is a Direct Service Organization and, thus, not beholden to Florida public record laws; and, some documents were considered "attorney work product."

The sickle cell gene is inherited, and it is most common among people whose family originated from areas where malaria is widespread, according to NATA. One in 12 African-Americans have the trait, compared to anywhere from one in 2,000 to one in 10,000 Caucasian Americans.

The sickle cell trait is distinguished from the disease sickle cell anemia in that only one sickle cell gene is present instead of two.

In February 2001, 18-year-old Florida State linebacker Devaughn Darling collapsed and died during an offseason conditioning workout. It was later determined Darling carried the sickle cell trait. His parents sued the university for wrongful death, claiming, among other things, their son hadn't received adequate hydration during the workout and hadn't been given adequate time to rest.

The Darlings and Florida State ultimately agreed to a $2 million settlement.

Mark Fainaru-Wada is a reporter for ESPN. He can be reached at markfwespn@gmail.com

Suggested Best Practice:

Athletes who carry the sickle cell trait are not precluded from playing or practicing. However, in June 2007, NATA issued a consensus statement warning that athletes who possess the trait are at greater risk during extreme conditioning exercises. The statement said collapses often were associated with a series of sprints, such as "gassers," and typically occurred during the initial workouts of a season or offseason. For athletes with the trait, NATA recommended, among other things, paced progression in workouts and more time for rest and recovery.

What did UCF's Coaching staff do?

Plancher "experienced exhaustion, dizziness, shortness of breath, and other signs of extreme fatigue that were ignored by trainers and/or coaches of the University of Central Florida,"

Facts at odd:

UCF: O'Leary told the paper he didn't see Plancher struggling and that his care was handled properly.

Players: allegedly 4 players told the Sentinel that "Plancher fell to the ground during sprints at the end of the conditioning session on March 18 -- the day before spring practice was officially scheduled to begin -- and that he showed signs of being in distress during the workout."

Somebody is lying: the players, the Sentinel, or a coach with a history of playing fast and loose with the truth....Considering that it was first reported that O'Liar "was not present", and then switched to that he was, UCF is starting this stare down at a disadvantage b/c it fumbled the facts, plus O'Liar's reputation.

Why UCF could have a real problem on their hands:

It was reported that Plancher collapsed last Spring. Combine this with both UCF and Erek Plancher knowing that they he had sickle cell trait, UCF should have been more proactive and been more vigilent about Plancher and should have seen the warning signs and paid Plancher more attention at the slightest sign of distress. UCF will be sued not b/c it intentionally neglected Plancher's signs of distress. Instead they will lose b/c they were simply ignorant and as a consequence negligent on the suggested best practices on how to deal with kids with the sickle cell trait.

My prediction:

UCiF will be vilanized and be made to look incompetent. This could get ugly if GOL's past history of dealing harshly with players (see GeorgiaTech) is brought into play. My guess is that UCiF will settle. Their coaches simply treated Plancher as a regular player and ignorant of the suggested best practices suggestions on how to deal with players like Plancher.UCiF didn't kill Plancher but they surely did not look out for his best interest.

Ramifications:

This could be a tide turning case in collegiate sports, as programs will more actively test its athletes for this trait and adopt the NATA's best practices as part of their standard operating procedures.

Dorsey's family retained cousel too...this is no shock.

This will settle and disappear.

Dorsey's family retained cousel too...this is no shock.

But never filed an Intent to Sue notice, despite retaining one of the worst bloodsuckers in Tampa, Barry Cohen.

This is getting serious for UCF.  Grab your popcorn, kiddies.

Dorsey's family retained cousel too...this is no shock.

This will settle and disappear.

North Endzone explained the difference, but also remember that USF never learned of any conditions pertaining to Dorsey before the fateful day.  That's huge, if USF had known of Dorsey's condition and given what had happened to him, then our training staff should have been in hot water.  UCF knew, and from all reports from the practice that day, from players and insiders that had nothing to lose, they didn't give EP the care necessary for a player in his condition.

As all reports go, no one at UCF specifically attended EP, and didn't start taking care of him until after the practice had ended, cool downs had concluded, and a team meeting was done....that's some serious crap, and UCF was ignorant enough to provide that time line then later admit they knew he had SCT.  Someone is lying and it never looks good in these type of suits when one of the defendants is a group that had a personal benefit if this goes away.  Meaning if it's proven that the training staff was wrong and what the players said is even close to the truth then they screwed up- jurors never respond favorably or vote favorably for defendants in that circumstance.

Prediction: This will take months, if not years to reach a settlement. Along the way, UCF gets thrown under the bus.  O'Leary retires after this season....especially if his team tanks....and ultimately UCF winds up settling for much more than the Darlings got paid.

Sovereign immunity limits state liability (meaning the university) to $200K, absent a claims bill being passed by the legislature.  However the claims bill can only be brought after a judgment is obtained, so there would have to be a trial before it ever got to the legislature.

There is no way this gets tried.  It is not a winnable case for any university as they would be arguing 1-not our fault and 2-Even if it is our fault the claim for damages is too high, ie puting a value on a former student athlete's life (such testimony would have to include whether the athlete could have turned pro).  Very unseemly.  So if the claim does get settled, then other non-governmental entities will probably have to come up with money, UCFAA, various insurance companies, etc.

If I were the parents I would do the same thing.  May not file suit, but at least clear all the procedural hurdeles, see what information comes out and make an evaluation before the statute of limitations expired, which is 2-years on a wrongful death.

Prediction: This will take months, if not years to reach a settlement. Along the way, UCF gets thrown under the bus.  O'Leary retires after this season....especially if his team tanks....and ultimately UCF winds up settling for much more than the Darlings got paid.

If it settles without litigation it has to settle within 2 years of the death, as the family's statute of limitations period expires then.

I don't think anyone is surprised by the Plancher's actions.

I think it was anticipated and will settle out of court

BREAKING NEWS:

USF just filed its "Intent to Kick Ass" notice against UCF

30 day warning.