Player's suit will proceed
Former Bulldog injured
By Lee Shearer |
lee.shearer@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 11:48 PM on Sunday, March 9, 2008
A former University of Georgia football star's lawsuit against the UGA Athletic Association has been on hold for more than two years while the athletic association and an insurance company fight over who will have to pay to defend UGA in the lawsuit.
But Georgia Supreme Court's recent decision to hear an appeal of the dispute between the insurance company and athletic association finally may allow former Bulldog Decory Bryant's lawsuit to go forward, said Bryant's lawyer.
Bryant was a junior cornerback with hopes of a career in professional football when he suffered a career-ending spinal injury in a game against the University of Alabama-Birmingham on Oct. 25, 2003.
Just days before the game, according to the lawsuit Athens lawyer Hue Henry filed in December 2004, Bryant asked UGA athletic officials to sign him up for a $500,000 insurance policy available to athletes who are considered pro prospects, as Bryant was.
The policy would pay Bryant if he suffered a career-ending injury -such as the broken neck he suffered in that fateful game.
But UGA didn't give Bryant the papers he needed to sign before he got hurt, according to Bryant's lawsuit, which accuses the athletic association of breach of contract, negligence and failing its fiduciary duty. The insurance company offering the coverage, Lloyd's of London, said Bryant wasn't covered and refused to pay.
Lawyers for the athletic association asked Clarke County Superior Court Judge Lawton Stephens to dismiss the case.
Athletic association lawyers listed several grounds for dismissal, including the doctrine of "sovereign immunity," an old legal principle that says a state can't be sued by citizens.
The athletic association is a nonprofit corporation, set up that way so as to be separate from the academic part of UGA. But the majority of its board appointments are controlled by the UGA president.
Stephens said sovereign immunity doesn't apply to the athletic association, however, and ruled against the athletic association in August 2005.
Since then the case has been on hold while UGA and an entirely different insurance company called Fireman's Fund fight over who will have to pay the cost of defending against Bryant's lawsuit.
Stephens ruled that Fireman's Fund must pay, but the insurance company appealed. In November, the Georgia Court of Appeals upheld Stephens' ruling in a 4-3 decision.
But the insurance company appealed again, and in December, the Georgia Supreme Court agreed to hear the Fireman's Fund case.
No matter which side must pay the legal bill - the athletic association or the insurance company - the Supreme Court's decision will allow Bryant's case to go forward in Clarke County Superior Court.
Bryant's lawsuit does not ask anyone to pay for the cost of Bryant's medical treatments. The athletic association has paid for medical treatment, Henry said.
Bryant still can walk and engage in other everyday activities following the injury, but doctors told him he could never play contact sports again, Henry said.
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