Lydia Lanni v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, University of Notre Dame Du Lac, and United State Fencing Association, Inc.

42 N.E.3d 542, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 599, 2015 WL 5037294
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 26, 2015
Docket49A02-1409-CT-649
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 42 N.E.3d 542 (Lydia Lanni v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, University of Notre Dame Du Lac, and United State Fencing Association, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Lydia Lanni v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, University of Notre Dame Du Lac, and United State Fencing Association, Inc., 42 N.E.3d 542, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 599, 2015 WL 5037294 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

' NAJAM, Judge.

Statement of the Case

[1] Lydia Lanni appeals from the trial court’s entry of summary judgment for the National- Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) and the United States Fencing Association, Inc. (“USFA”). In her complaint, Lanni alleged that the NCAA and the USFA sponsored a fencing competition at the University of Notre Dame (“Notre Dame”) 1 in South Bend, which Lanni attended as a student-athlete and at which she suffered a serious eye injury while standing near one of the competitions. She further alleged that her injury result *544 ed from negligence on the part of the NCAA, the USFA, and Notre Dame.

[2] We address the following issues in this appeal:

1. Whether the NCAA owed Lanni a duty of care.
2. Whether the USFA owes a duty of care to those who participate in fencing matches that are played under the USFA’s rules and that are refereed by USFA-trained referees.
3. Whether the trial court erred when the court denied Lanni’s motion for a change of judge on remand from this court following.our reversal of an earlier entry of summary judgment.

[3] We affirm the court’s entry of summary judgment. 2

Facts and Procedural History 3

[4] The NCAA is an organization that oversees intercollegiate athletic competitions involving the student-athletes of its member institutions, and Notre Dame is an NCAA member institution. Pursuant to the NCAA’s constitution, NCAA competition rules “shall apply to all teams in sports recognized by the member institutions as varsity intercollegiate sports.... ” Appellant’s App.. at 308. The NCAA constitution further provides that “[i]t is the responsibility of each member institution to protect the health of and provide a safe environment for each of its participating student-athletes.” Id. at 302. But, according to the NCAA’s website:

The NCAA takes appropriate steps to modify safety guidelines, playing rules[,] and standards to minimize those risks and provide student[-]athletes with the best opportunity to enjoy a healthy career. The injury surveillance program collects,, analyzes, interprets[,] and disseminates data on injuries in each sport, providing a wealth of information through which we can provide athletes with a safe[,] competitive environment.

Id. at 100 (quoting the NCAA’s website). And Eric Breece, the NCAA’s Coordinator of Championships and Alliances since 2012, stated, while testifying on behalf of the NCAA, that “any serious injury” at an NCAA event “is unacceptable if reasonable safety measures could prevent” the injury. Id. at 249.

[5] The NCAA has established a Fencing Committee, which promulgates rules for the sport to member institutions. Id. at 250. If the Fencing Committee wished to alter or amend those rules, the Fencing Committee would first send the proposed revision to the NCAA’s Playing Rules Oversight Panel for review. Id. If an injury were to occur at an NCAA fencing competition, that injury would be reported to the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports (“CSMAS”), which, in turn, would “probably share” that information with the Fencing Committee. Id. at 253.

[6] According to the NCAA’s “Fencing Meet Procedures”:

member institutions shall conduct all of their intercollegiate eompetition[s] in accordance with the playing rules of the [NCAA] in all sports' for which the NCAA develops playing rules. For those sports in which the [NCAA] fol *545 lows rules that are developed by other governing bodies and modified by the governing sports committee, the adopted playing rules shall be used....

Id. at 875. The Fencing Meet Procedures then state that the rules of the USFA “will be the applicable rules for intercollegiate competitions.” Id. The USFA is “the official governing body for amateur fencing activities in the United States[ ] and is so recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Fencing Federation.” Id. at 966. The USFA’s “rules for fencing ... apply to all USFA championships and nationally-rated competitions— ” Id. After stating that 'the USFA’s rules apply to NCAA events, the NCAA’s Fencing Meet Procedures then list numerous “Rules. In Addition To USFA Rules.” Id. at 875.

[7] The USFA’s rules, adopted by the NCAA, include a diagram of a fencing area. In particular, this diagram demonstrates a border around every four fencing strips. Id. at 880. According to Robert Dilworth, the Executive Director of the USFA in March of 2010, this border “[u]sually ... represents a series of pipes that delineate where spectators may and may not go.” Id. at 912. At least through 2013 for the NCAA, id. at 257-58, but only through sometime in 2010 for the USFA, id. at 912, the border also included hanging drapes. The NCAA, like the USFA, required the pipe-and-drape barrier at least in part because the barrier “provides space around the strip so that only the fencer[s] and the referee are in [the fencing] area.” Appellant’s App. at 258.

[8] As part of his responsibilities with the NCAA, Breece worked as a staff liaison to the Fencing Committee, and he assisted that committee with, among other things, running the NCAA Fencing Championships. Id. at 246. ■ Part' of that responsibility, in turn, included “site inspection ... walk through[s]” to “make sure the facility was set up the way ... that [the NCAA had] instructed the host [member institution] to set it up.” Id. at 257. This inspection included verifying the placement of the pipe-and-drape barrier. Id. at 257-58.

[9] On March 7,2010, Lanni attended a fencing competition at Notre Dame (“the March 2010 competition”). A “Visiting Team/Club Guide” (“the Guide”) published by Notre Dame for the event described the competition as “the Midwest Fencing Conference Championship.” Id. at 241. The cover page for the Guide displayed Notre Dame’s school logo and mascot; the logo for the Midwest Fencing Conference; and the logo for the NCAA. Id.

[10] The Midwest Fencing Conference is not an NCAA-affiliated conference. Id. at 250-51. However, “[a]ll colleges and universities in the NCAA Midwest Region,” such as Notre Dame, “[that] sponsor a varsity or club intercollegiate fencing team” are eligible for membership in the Midwest Fencing Conference. Id. at 189. The Midwest Fencing Conference further requires “[a]ll matches hosted by Conference members [to] be conducted pursuant to USFA Rules, ás modified by the NCAA....” Id. at21Ó.

[11] The March 2010 competition occurred the weekend before the start of the official NCAA.Fencing, Regional Championships, which lead into the NCAA Fencing National Championship.

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42 N.E.3d 542, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 599, 2015 WL 5037294, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lydia-lanni-v-national-collegiate-athletic-association-university-of-indctapp-2015.