As the NCAA tries to fend off a tidal wave of litigation, its legal defense is quickly eroding. In the latest blow to the NCAA, a trial court in Pennsylvania ruled that the NCAA must face a trial over its alleged failure to protect the health and safety of student athletes.<\/p>\n
The case arises from a lawsuit filed by former college football player, Matt Onyshko,<\/a> who played at the California University of Pennsylvania between 1999 and 2003. He was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (\u201cALS\u201d) in 2008. In 2013, he filed a claim against NCAA asserting that the NCAA failed to \u201cadequately supervise, regulate, and minimize the risk of long-term brain injury.\u201d<\/p>\n The NCAA, as it has done repeatedly in litigation<\/a>, claimed that it did not \u201cowe a legal duty\u201d to protect the health and safety of student athletes. Instead, the NCAA claimed, this duty resides with the member schools. The NCAA doubled down on this assertion and even stated that it \u201clacks the enforcement mechanisms to implement legislation over its member institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n Flatly rejecting this, the Court stated,<\/p>\n This argument also lacks merit because the NCAA is the supreme regulatory body in college athletics with the stated purpose of \u2018hav[ing] a clear moral obligation to make sure we do everything we can to protect and support student-athletes.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Notably, this \u201cstated purpose\u201d was a quote directly from the NCAA\u2019s President, Mark Emmert, during a congressional hearing where he was grilled by Senator Jay Rockefeller for the NCAA\u2019s tone-deaf response to the Derek Sheely lawsuit<\/a>. The landmark Sheely lawsuit against the NCAA and other defendants<\/a> was subsequently settled for $1.2 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n