Feleccia v.

Lackawanna College
Madelon Allen, Carly Della Sala, & Houston McCullough
The University of Southern Mississippi
 Kaitlin Coyne and Alexis Boinsese were hired by Athletic Director Kim Mecca (AD
Mecca) of Lackawanna College as athletic trainers in August of 2009. They both earned their
Bachelor of Science degree in athletic training from Marywood College but were not certified or
licensed as athletic trainers by the Board of Certification for the Athletic Trainer (BOC). After
their hire, both Coyne and Boinsese informed AD Mecca that they were not BOC certified and as
a result were retitled as “first responders.” The university then hired a part-time certified athletic
trainer who did not attend football practices. During spring football practices in 2010, two
football players, Gus Feleccia and Justin Resch were injured during a tackling drill. Both athletes
brought a lawsuit against Lackawanna College, alleging gross negligence and reckless
misconduct.
Facts of the Case
Before spring football practices began in 2010, both Feleccia and Resch signed a Waiver
of Liability and Hold Harmless Agreement in which they agreed not to sue Lackawanna or its
agents for any injuries incurred while playing football at Lackawanna. On March 29, 2010, both
Feleccia and Resch participated in a tackling drill (which was a variation of the Oklahoma Drill)
at the university’s first fully padded and full contact practice of the season. During the drill,
Resch attempted to make a tackle with his head down and suffered a T7 vertebral fracture.
Immediately after suffering his injury, Resch was attended to by one Coyne, one of the first
responders. Resch was then transported by ambulance to the hospital. The drill continued on
after Resch’s injury. When Feleccia participated in the drill, he endured a stinger to his right
shoulder. Boinsese attended to Feleccia and told him that he could return to practice if he was
feeling better. On Boinsese’s recommendation, Feleccia returned to the drill a second time and
suffered a traumatic brachial plexus avulsion on his right side.
Case Analysis
Gus and Justin both pled gross negligence and recklessness regarding Lackwanna
College’s failure to provide qualified athletic trainers. They stated that both the women had
voilated the Pennsylvania Medical Practice Act by making a “return to play” decision when they
were not qualified athletic trainers, when the Act states that no one can use the title or
abbreviations associated with athletic trainer unless they have been licensed by the Board.
Lackawanna responded saying that the laws of athletic trainers do not apply in this case because
Coyne and Boniese were first responders. The College used Good Samaritan immunity and the
fact that Pennsylvania and the NJCAA do not require trainers to be present during practice as its
defense. However, student-athletes identified the two as the athletic trainers and thought of them
as such. A higher-up of the College also stated that he was not willing to pay what athletic
trainers requested as their salary, because it was more than what the College paid first year
professors. Understanding this, Lackawanna clearly knowingly provided unqualified persons to
serve a crucial role in its athletic department. It was also proven by a consulting economist that
there were sufficient funds for a full-time trainer to be hired.
 A special relationship exists between the College and student-athletes; one that imposes
the duty of responsible care upon the College as well as the duty to be reasonably prepared for
handling medical emergencies that are forseeable during intercollegiate contact sports.
Lackawanna stated that there was an assumption of risk for choosing to play football and argued
that Gus and Justin were aware of those general risks inherent of the sport of football. The two
players argued that they did not assume the risks when the College provided unqualified
personnel at their full-contact tryout. The College had a duty to have qualified medical personnel
not only on staff, but present at all football practices and gatherings, and to provide adequate
treatment in the event of a medical emergency.
Conclusion
A trial court granted Lackawanna College summary judgement based on the waiver and
on assumption of risk, but Justin and Gus appealed. The Superior Court ruled that “genuine
issues of material fact exist”, citing that a jury must decide whether or not Alexis and Kaitlin
were acting as athletic trainers. The Superior Court also ruled that the trial court should have
allowed the jury to decide if the waiver was valid and whether the College’s conduct was so
egregious as to render the waiver unenforceable. As a result, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania
reversed the entry of the summary judgement and remanded for trial.
Risk Management Strategies
There are a lot of ways to prevent situations like this from happening again. First, the
university, coaches, and hiring committee need to make sure the athletic training staff members
have the proper certifications prior to being hired for their role. Prior to hiring for an athletic
training role, it should be required to show proof of certification. The university should only hire
athletic trainers who are Board Certified. Also, the head athletic trainer should be responsible for
making sure all certifications are renewed yearly. Another risk management strategy is that
yearly performance evaluations should be performed and evaluated by a professional. Training
staffs need to be following any and all protocols admitted by the university and athletic
department.
In addition, it’s important that the student athletes are being cleared by a medical
professional. Players should be required to get clearance from the team doctor unless the injury is
minor than the head athletic trainer can make that call. Lastly, football programs should consider
getting rid of the Oklahoma drill due to its outstanding amount of injuries from it. The Detroit
Lions coach, Matt Patricia, created a modified version of the drill to keep in mind the safety of
his players. The drill had two players laying on opposing sides of the numbers with their helmets
faing each other, springing to their feet at the coaches’ whistle (Birkett, 2018). There was no
tackling in the drill. The defender needed to tag the ball carrier. Patricia decided to make this
change due to the NFL ruling on a 15-yard penalty in the case of a player lowering their head to
initiate contact with another player. This concentrated more on the player fundamentals of
keeping their head up, shoulders positioned, and legs driving, while instilling a more mental
focus than physical.
 These are just some of the risk management strategies that can easily help to lower the
risk of injury when participating in the Oklahoma drill. Additionally, it helps ensure a safer
environment for the student athletes when they have reliable athletic trainers.

References
Birkett, D. (2018, Jul. 30.) “Detroit Lions keep safety in mind with new Oklahoma drill.” Detroit
Free Press. Retrieved from http://freep.com
Dunbar v. Jackson Hole Mt. Resort Corp., 2003 U.S. Dist.
Feleccia v. Lackawanna Coll., 156 A.3d 1200