http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/artic...ball-player-7248274.php?cmpid=twitter-desktop
"The family of Cal football player Ted Agu, who died after a team drill in 2014, and the University of California settled a wrongful-death lawsuit for $4.75 million, bringing months of negotiations and litigation to a close, the two sides said Thursday.
Agu, a defensive lineman and pre-med student, died at age 21 shortly after an off-season conditioning workout outside Cal’s Memorial Stadium. His parents sued the university, saying their son should have never been placed in such a strenuous workout because he carried sickle cell trait, a blood abnormality that experts believe can lead to death under extreme exertion. Cal doctors and coaches knew of Agu’s condition since he redshirted his freshman year in 2010.
The settlement comes nearly three months after the university admitted liability for the death. In court papers, UC attorneys said negligence by Cal officials was “a substantial factor” in leading to Agu’s death and that no other person or entity, including Agu himself, was responsible."
"With the settlement, coaches will not be able to use “high risk physical activity” as a punishment, and superiors will review workout and conditioning plans. Under the deal, coaches and team doctors will also increase their education of sickle cell trait and the medical complications that can stem from it.
“We were never going to accept just money,” said Steve Yerrid, one of the attorneys who represented the Agu family. “The most unnatural act in the world is for a parent to bury their child.”
The settlement guarantees that a memorial display for Agu in the Cal football team’s home locker room will be permanently kept intact. The bargain also solidifies a practice Cal had implemented on its own accord following Agu’s death: conducting workouts only when team staffers have a direct line of sight to athletes."
Still less than half of what UCF was initially ordered to pay until the appellate court and SCOFL upheld that UCF was only responsible for $200K.
"The family of Cal football player Ted Agu, who died after a team drill in 2014, and the University of California settled a wrongful-death lawsuit for $4.75 million, bringing months of negotiations and litigation to a close, the two sides said Thursday.
Agu, a defensive lineman and pre-med student, died at age 21 shortly after an off-season conditioning workout outside Cal’s Memorial Stadium. His parents sued the university, saying their son should have never been placed in such a strenuous workout because he carried sickle cell trait, a blood abnormality that experts believe can lead to death under extreme exertion. Cal doctors and coaches knew of Agu’s condition since he redshirted his freshman year in 2010.
The settlement comes nearly three months after the university admitted liability for the death. In court papers, UC attorneys said negligence by Cal officials was “a substantial factor” in leading to Agu’s death and that no other person or entity, including Agu himself, was responsible."
"With the settlement, coaches will not be able to use “high risk physical activity” as a punishment, and superiors will review workout and conditioning plans. Under the deal, coaches and team doctors will also increase their education of sickle cell trait and the medical complications that can stem from it.
“We were never going to accept just money,” said Steve Yerrid, one of the attorneys who represented the Agu family. “The most unnatural act in the world is for a parent to bury their child.”
The settlement guarantees that a memorial display for Agu in the Cal football team’s home locker room will be permanently kept intact. The bargain also solidifies a practice Cal had implemented on its own accord following Agu’s death: conducting workouts only when team staffers have a direct line of sight to athletes."
Still less than half of what UCF was initially ordered to pay until the appellate court and SCOFL upheld that UCF was only responsible for $200K.
