After William Henry Harrison High School ("Harrison High School") sophomore Isabella Reynolds suffered extensive facial injuries during a cheerleading routine gone wrong, her parents sued Harrison High School, its varsity cheerleading coach Roberta Patton, and the Tippecanoe School Corporation ("TSC"), alleging negligence claims primarily based on Coach Patton's direction and supervision of the cheerleading stunt.

On January 23, 2019, Reynolds, then a junior varsity cheerleader, received a text from Coach Patton asking her to join the varsity team as a substitute for the next day's game. Delighted, Reynolds attended a portion of the varsity practice that night to run through the routine and game plan. It was highly unusual for a JV team member to be called up to varsity, and it has only happened once before.

The varsity routine required that Reynolds be hoisted into the air and lowered back down to the ground, so the team practiced with protective mats covering the gym floor. Although she was not a member of the varsity squad, Reynolds was an experienced cheerleader and had already performed this stunt with her All-Star squad (outside of school), several times before joining the varsity practice. Coach Patton noted that Reynolds had run through the stunt "flawlessly" and "perfectly" and determined that she was "game ready."

Most of the time, the cheerleaders perform stunts with stunt groups with whom they have been working for months. New stunts usually take weeks to perfect before the cheerleaders will perform them at a game. The next day at the pre-game warmup, the group practiced the stunt as they had the night before, but without any protective mats covering the gym floor. Coach Patton stood nearby and supervised the various stunt groups. During a run through of the stunt, Reynolds was hoisted into the air, but her teammates failed to catch her and dropped her onto the gymnasium floor, breaking her jaw and most of her teeth.

Immediately after the fall, Coach Patton and the other cheerleaders scrambled to pick up Reynolds's broken teeth. Instead of immobilizing Reynolds to prevent further injury, Coach Patton instructed her to stand up and walked her to the nearest trashcan because she was bleeding onto the gym floor. Once Reynolds' father arrived at the school, he transported her to the emergency room. The botched stunt required Reynolds to undergo emergency surgery, continued medical treatments, and rehabilitation.

In September 2019, Reynolds' parents brought an action on behalf of their daughter in the Tippecanoe County Circuit Court alleging that Harrison High School, TSC, Coach Patton, and Harrison High School Athletic Director Jerry Galena were negligent.

Analyze the negligence claim against ONE of the defendants.

 

What is the legal issue in the correct format? 

 

 

Make the plaintiff and defendant's arguments for duty, breach of duty and proximate cause.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Legal Issue Whether Coach Roberta Patton owed a duty of care to Isabella Reynolds breached that duty and whether such breach was the proximate cause o... View the full answer