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Mission Prep football lawsuit moving forward

August 13, 2015

Mission PrepA lawsuit alleging Mission Prep High School is responsible for one of its former football players suffering brain damage and cruel bullying has cleared an initial hurdle.

In the case, the former player, a minor, is suing the school and the former team captain, also a minor. The plaintiff alleges his former teammate intentionally caused him to suffer severe injuries and then bragged and taunted him about the physical damage he caused.

During a 2013 practice, the plaintiff suffered multiple helmet-to-helmet hits, which are not allowed by California high school football rules. An assistant coach also named in the suit encouraged the hits, according to the lawsuit.

The plaintiff has since suffered a concussion, brainstem stroke, sensory deficits in his left torso and extremities, headaches, pain walking, Horner’s syndrome in his right eye and difficulty breathing and swallowing, according to the suit.

After the 2013 incident, the injured player endured bullying from Mission Prep students, particularly by way of text message. One text message stated, “Team captain says u r a wimp and hez glad he made ur brains scrambled… and is gonna get u next week to.”

The plaintiff later transferred high schools.

An attorney representing the former team captain and his parents, who are also named in the suit, filed a motion to strike punitive damages. A judge denied the motion on Wednesday, stating the defendant did intend to cause injury to the plaintiff.

The ruling also stated that the plaintiff did not assume the risk of the emotional distress he suffered merely by choosing to play football. The general legal duty of a sports player is to not intentionally injure another participant or behave so reckless that the conduct is outside the normal range of the sport, a case cited in the ruling states.

The lawsuit additionally names Mission Prep Head Coach Chad Henry, Principal James Childs and the Diocese of Monterey.

The plaintiff’s attorney stated in a press release Wednesday, “Bully culture at Mission Prep. is to blame.”


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“All those rich snobby Catholics with snotty kids” – demiseofslo.


You mean like the plaintiffs themselves?


You must mean them too, since their younger child still attends Mission Prep.


If they have a case against the school, I am sure a jury will rule in their favor, but lets refrain from attacks simply because they and others send their children to private school.


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Anybody remember when the principal Fr. Tilley resigned immediately the day after all the molestation stuff came about back in 2003? Always shady shit going down at Mission


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Fr. Tilley did not resign he transferred to a school in Los Angeles. It had nothing to do with child molestation. You should be ashamed of yourself throwing your shady sh-t around.


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Tilley was indeed removed from MCP but it had absolutely nothing to do with “child molestation” as you note. It’s sickening that “demiseofslo” would lie about something like that.


Tilley later became the principal of Loyola HS is Los Angeles but he was not “transferred” there.


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Never said he was directly involved. That guy was definitely a perve and I think MCP knew it. If you went to mission you should be able to read what I wrote you dumbass


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It’s kind of sad that the “well connected” in town feel the need to bully others when they seemingly have everything. Sounds like Mission Prep needs to get on the anti-bullying bandwagon quickly, and get rid of some of the bad apples at that school. Just because someone has money doesn’t mean they get to bypass the rules – come on MP, quit looking the other way!


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Oh so there is no bullying at public schools. Or just because you have money “well connected” what a stupid statement. Bullying takes place everywhere, and in every social standing. In the working place, and even on blogs….


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Another SLO myth about to hit the dust of reality?


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Bully culture? LOL its Mission. I do encourage the plantiff here though. All those rich snobby catholics with snotty kids deserve a nice dose of trouble to offset their egos


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Don’t be so naive. Many who attend MCP aren’t Catholic. I understand there was a fight about adding the last three words to the school’s “Mission College Preparatory Catholic High School” signage.


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“A judge denied the motion on Wednesday, stating the defendant did intend to cause injury to the plaintiff.”


This is just poor reporting. Read the ruling again and point us to where the judge said anything remotely like this. The ruling simply states that the plaintiff has SUFFICIENTLY ALLEGED that the defendant intended to cause harm. As you frequently note in your reporting, a complaint just expresses one side’s view of the case. This was not a decision based on the facts but on the legal sufficiency of the complaint.


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I’m not defending bullying, but I do have a question. Is participation on the Mission College Prep football team mandatory? If this child felt he was being bullied by teammates couldn’t he have quit? I guess we will let the facts play out in court and see what the truth is.


I wouldn’t be surprised if this student turned out to be one of the students who received a sports scholarship in lieu of the $15,000 per year tuition per child and when he couldn’t cut it athletically and lost his scholarship the parents decided to go after the school economically.


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They don’t give out sports scholarships. Any Family with financial hardship can apply for a scholarship. The ” rich and well connected” you know the parents of the bullies graciously pick up the tuition.


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If there is in fact a “bully culture” at Mission, it looks as though it is about to change. Very sad that this boys health has been affected.

As I tell my children, before you hit “send”, picture whatever you are writing or posting on the front page of the Tribune or other newspaper for all to see and ask yourself “is this a good idea?”.


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Unfortunately, I could share some shocking digital examples of the bully culture at MCP. Chad Henry is a quality man and a role model, but there are powers in play who have allowed the well connected to get away with some pretty awful things while modeling that behavior to underclassmen. I don’t know the facts in this case, but he’s right about a bully culture. This is no surprise to me.


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Perhaps MCP is just imitating our Board of Supervisors or SLO city council meetings, or any one of a number of other boards or districts meetings around the area. Bully Culture certainly doesn’t seem to be in short supply or limited to MCP.


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