Kleinknecht v. Gettysburg College

989 F.2d 1360, 1993 WL 90883
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedMarch 31, 1993
DocketNo. 92-7160
StatusPublished
Cited by84 cases

This text of 989 F.2d 1360 (Kleinknecht v. Gettysburg College) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kleinknecht v. Gettysburg College, 989 F.2d 1360, 1993 WL 90883 (3d Cir. 1993).

Opinions

OPINION OF THE COURT

HUTCHINSON, Circuit Judge.

Suzanne W. Kleinknecht and Richard P. Kleinknecht (collectively “the Klein-knechts”) appeal an order of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania granting summary judgment to appellee Gettysburg College (“the College”). The district court had subject matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.A. § 1332(a)(1) (West Supp.1992)1. This Court has appellate jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.A. § 1291 (West Supp.1992).2 We will reverse the district court’s order granting summary judgment to the College for the following reasons.

I. Procedural History

Drew Kleinknecht died of cardiac arrest on September 16, 1988, while a student at the College and during a practice session of its intercollegiate lacrosse team. His parents filed this wrongful death and survival action against the College on August 15, 1990. The College filed an answer on September 11, 1990, and a motion for summary judgment on August 31, 1991. The district court initially denied the motion on November 1, 1991, but then granted the College’s motion for reconsideration on January 9, 1992.

Following oral argument on January 30, 1992, the district court reversed its earlier decision and entered summary judgment in favor of the College on March 12, 1992. Kleinknecht v. Gettysburg College, 786 F.Supp. 449 (M.D.Pa.1992). In its opinion, the court first held that the College had no duty to anticipate and guard against the chance of a fatal arrhythmia in a young and healthy athlete. Id. at 454. The court also held that the actions taken by school employees following Drew’s collapse were reasonable, and thus the College did not negligently breach any duty that might exist. Id. at 456.

In a footnote the court observed that because it had found that the College owed no special duty of care to Drew, it was not necessary to reach the question whether the immunity Pennsylvania’s Good Samaritan law provides applied to any of the defendants. Id. at 457 n. 2. The court nevertheless stated that if the immunity law were applicable, Head Coach Henry L. Janczyk and Assistant Coach Donald Anderson would not be immune because neither of them held the required certification. Id. The court held, however, that student volunteer trainer Traci Moore would be shielded from liability, and that the College would also be immune because “the statutory context does not ‘clearly indicate[ ]’ ... that the word ‘person’ does not apply to corporations_” Id.

The Kleinknechts filed a timely appeal on March 25, 1992.

II. Factual History

In September 1988, Drew Kleinknecht [1363]*1363was a twenty-year old3 sophomore student at the College, which had recruited him for its Division III intercollegiate lacrosse team. The College is a private, four-year liberal arts school. In 1988, it had an enrollment of about two thousand students and supported twenty-one intercollegiate sports teams involving approximately 525 male and female athletes.

Lacrosse is a contact sport. In terms of sports-related injuries at the College, it ranked at least fourth behind football, basketball, and wrestling, respectively. Lacrosse players can typically suffer a variety of injuries, including unconsciousness, wooziness, concussions, being knocked to the ground, and having the wind knocked out of them. Before Drew died, however, no athlete at the College had experienced cardiac arrest while playing lacrosse or any other sport.

In September 1988, the College employed two full-time athletic trainers, Joseph Do-nolli and Gareth Biser. Both men were certified by the National Athletic Trainers Association, which requires, inter alia, current certification in both cardio-pulmo-nary resuscitation (“CPR”) and standard first aid. In addition, twelve student trainers participated in the College’s sports program. The trainers were stationed in the College’s two training room facilities at Musselman Stadium and Plank Gymnasium.

Because lacrosse is a spring sport, daily practices were held during the spring semester in order to prepare for competition. Student trainers were assigned to cover both spring practices and games. Fall practice was held only for the players to learn “skills and drills,” and to become acquainted with the other team members. No student trainers were assigned to the fall practices.

Drew participated in a fall lacrosse practice on the afternoon of September 16, 1988. Coaches Janczyk and Anderson attended and supervised this practice. It was held on the softball fields outside Mus-selman Stadium. No trainers or student trainers were present. Neither coach had certification in CPR. Neither coach had a radio on the practice field. The nearest telephone was inside the training room at Musselman Stadium, roughly 200-250 yards away. The shortest route to this telephone required scaling an eight-foot high cyclone fence surrounding the stadium. According to Coach Janczyk, he and Coach Anderson had never discussed how they would handle an emergency during fall lacrosse practice.

The September 16, 1988 practice began at about 3:15 p.m. with jogging and stretching, some drills, and finally a “six on six” drill in which the team split into two groups at opposite ends of the field. Drew was a defenseman and was participating in one of the drills when he suffered a cardiac arrest. According to a teammate observing from the sidelines, Drew simply stepped away from the play and dropped to the ground. Another teammate on the sidelines stated that no person or object struck Drew prior to his collapse.

After Drew fell, his teammates and Coach Janczyk ran to his side. Coach Janc-zyk and some of the players noticed that Drew was lying so that his head appeared to be in an awkward position. No one knew precisely what had happened at that time, and at least some of those present suspected a spinal injury. Team captain Daniel Polizzotti testified that he heard a continuous “funny” “gurgling” noise coming from Drew, and knew from what he observed that something “major” was wrong. Other teammates testified that Drew’s skin began quickly to change colors. One team member testified that by the time the coaches had arrived, “[Drew] was really blue.” Appendix (App.) at 1074.

According to the College, Coach Janczyk acted in accordance with the school’s emergency plan by first assessing Drew’s condition, then dispatching players to get a trainer and call for an ambulance. Brief for Appellee at 8. Coach Janczyk himself [1364]*1364then began to run toward Musselman Stadium to summon help.

The Kleinknechts dispute the College’s version of the facts. They note that although Coach Janczyk claims to have told two players to run to Apple Hall, a nearby dormitory, for help, Coach Anderson did not recall Coach Janczyk’s sending anyone for help. Even if Coach Janczyk did send the two players to Apple Hall, the Klein-knechts maintain, his action was inappropriate because Apple Hall was not the location of the nearest telephone. It is undisputed that two other team members ran for help, but the Kleinknechts contend that the team members did this on their own accord, without instruction from either coach.

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989 F.2d 1360, 1993 WL 90883, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kleinknecht-v-gettysburg-college-ca3-1993.