A lawsuit filed against the Board of Education of Newport Independent Schools by a visiting football player who claimed he received a serious infection from the artificial turf at Newport High School has been dismissed by the Campbell Circuit Court.
In a court order entered on Oct. 30, Campbell Circuit Judge Julie Reinhardt Ward granted the school district’s motion for summary judgment — which effectively dismisses the case — by ruling that, as a governmental body, the Newport Board of Education “is entitled to governmental immunity” from the claims brought in the lawsuit.
Newport Independent Schools Superintendent Kelly Middleton said he is grateful the case was dismissed.
“Justice has been served,” Middleton said. “Nothing is more important than the safety and welfare of students or persons who are in our schools or using our athletic facilities. We spent a lot of time and resources because of this lawsuit, but we knew all along that we did nothing inappropriate, unsafe. or unsanitary, and we applaud Judge Reinhardt Ward’s fair and impartial ruling.”
Brycen McWilliams claimed in the lawsuit that while playing for the Somerset High School football team in a November 2013 game at Newport High School that a cut on his body was infected with a staph bacteria infection known as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from the field’s artificial turf. McWilliams’ team was playing in a game against Newport Central Catholic, which also uses the Newport High School stadium.
Citing case law in her order, Judge Reinhardt Ward ruled that “school boards are an agency of the state and thus entitled to governmental immunity when performing a government function.”
“Further, Kentucky law considers the authorization and management of interscholastic athletics (like football programs) to be the performance of a government function,” the judge wrote. “Here, the Court believes that any decision by the Board concerning how to treat or manage the football field falls within the realm of its performance of a government function of managing athletics.”
Newport Independent Schools
