February 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 30
L AW R E V I E W
Physician Nixes Post-Injury Return to Football
By James C. Kozlowski, J.D., Ph.D.
T
he Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination
on the basis of disability. Title II of the ADA applies to public entities, including public park and recreation agencies and public educational institutions. With or without reasonable accommodations,
the ADA requires individuals with disabilities to be " otherwise qualified " for a
particular program or activity. To be otherwise qualified, a disabled individual must meet the essential eligibility requirements for program participants. A
disabled individual is not otherwise qualified when participation would pose a
" direct threat " of serious injury or death to the participant or others. Moreover,
the ADA would not require accommodations that fundamentally change an activity or pose an undue financial or administrative burden on the public entity.
As illustrated by the case described
herein, federal courts will generally
defer to the reasonable medical judgment of an agency's designated physician when an " otherwise qualified "
and/or " direct threat " determination
for a disabled participant is based on
competent and individualized medical evidence.
Catastrophic Heatstroke
In the case of Class v. Towson University, 806 F.3d 236; 2015 U.S. App.
LEXIS 19772 (4th Cir. 11/13/2015),
28 Parks & Recreation
plaintiff Gavin Class alleged Towson
University (TU) had violated Title II
of the ADA when he was excluded
from the football program.
On August 12, 2013, during a
football practice in 91-degree heat,
Class collapsed with " exertional
heatstroke. " He was transported to a
hospital shock trauma unit where he
remained in a coma for nine days and
almost died. Multiple organ failures
necessitated a liver transplant and numerous additional surgeries.
In January 2014, following a pro-
| F E B R UA R Y 2 0 1 6 | W W W. N R PA . O R G
tracted recovery, Class returned to
classes at TU and sought reinstatement on the football team. Applying
its " return-to-play " policy, TU refused
to clear Class to play football. TU
based its decision on the opinion of
the TU team physician, a board-certified sports-medicine doctor. The team
physician thought it would present an
unacceptable risk of serious injury or
death to allow Class to participate in
the football program. TU's return-toplay policy gave the team physician
" final authority " over the decision.
In his complaint, Class alleged his
" inability to regulate his body temperature and his susceptibility to heatstroke " constituted a " disability " under
the ADA. Moreover, Class claimed he
was " qualified to play intercollegiate
football if Towson University agreed
to his proposed accommodations. "
The federal district court found TU
had violated the ADA by denying
Class the requested reasonable accommodations. TU appealed. On appeal,
February 2016 - Parks & Recreation
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