Re: Are universities responsible for violence in games? -- America East Forum

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Date Posted: 23:47:14 04/13/03 Sun
Author: matt-11
Subject: Re: Are universities responsible for violence in games?
In reply to: Dane96 's message, "Re: Are universities responsible for violence in games?" on 13:08:49 04/13/03 Sun

>Being a case of first impression in the state of MA,
>the court is more than likely to rule very
>conservatively. W/o doing anymore research, it would
>seem rather difficult for the school to become
>responible via the law of RESPONDEAT SUPERIOR. That
>basically means an employer, or in this case a
>university, is responsible for the actions of the
>student/employee via the vicarious nature of the
>relationship.
>
>It would seem that w/o any coaxing from a University
>offical to commit the actual tortious act (ie. "go
>strike that player"), it would be difficult to place
>blame w/ the University. On the other hand, if the
>student can be shown to have a history of violent/bad
>behavior in both the school and athletic setting, the
>school could be found liable for the harm to a third
>party (the student who was punched). It may be a jury
>question as to whether or not the University should
>have protected the third party from the possibility of
>violent acts by not allowing FOLK to play based on a
>violent or aggressive behavior that went beyond the
>norms of society.
>
>I would think this case is weak, and be found for BU,
>and not in the favor of the plaintiff because of the
>can of worms (ie. much more litigation will come in
>the future using this case as a benchmark) it will
>open.
>
>Moreover, this comment "In his legal brief to the SJC,
>Kavanagh's lawyer, Michael J. O'Reilly quoted a 1984
>SJC decision in which the court noted that such law
>changes ''with the evolving expectations of a maturing
>society.'" is a little off base. Sports has always
>been considered a violent endeavour, one in which its
>very hard to prove a case of violent acts between
>competitors. Was this incident a part of the game or
>to be expected as part of acting w/in the contest?
>HECK NO. But, using the line "a maturing society" is a
>bit much. The courts would be creating a very "THIN
>LINE" as to what is violent and what is not. This
>should be left to a jury...and not the judiciary.
>This would place too much of a burden on the judiciary
>as to what is or is not a violent act outside the
>scope of the game.
>
>Remember, emotions get heated on a court. Is the kid
>who punched the player liable...absolutely. But the
>main issue is whether or not the player was coaxed by
>the coaching staff/university to undertake the act.
>This seems rather unclear based upon the article. A
>fired up coach would not seem to be enough! Giving
>out a scholarship is not enough. Would the school be
>liable for a theft the student may partake in? What
>about a kid on academic scholarship who date rapes a
>girl. Is the school, because of the scholarship and
>barring other factors, responsible for the students
>actions? Should we place such a police power of the
>school? Is it fair to do so? The answer would seem to
>be NO!

>>>A verdict against the school would open such a can of worms nationwide,it seems unlikely the court would do it. Levar Folk was NOT a dirty player and did not have a history of dirty play while at BU. To the contrary, he several times was the victim of dirty play by 6-7 forwards. Folk was about 5-10 .

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