Settlement Reached In Heat-Related Death of High School Football Player
acquitted according to the news report in the Louisville Courier Journal
The High School football player died from heat stroke three days after he collapsed at practice. The settlement ends the lawsuit in which Plaintiffs alleged that the negligence of the head coach and five of his assistants caused the student athlete’s death. The suit accused the coaching staff of negligence and “reckless disregard” of heat-safety rules.
Plaintiff’s counsel indicated that their clients decided to accept the offer because they believed that it would help finance the Max Gilpin Beat the Heat Foundation, which they founded to educate students and others about the dangers of heat-related injuries. The lawyers also said that it could have taken years to get the case to trial because of appeals by both sides. The case captured national attention, particularly after the coach became the first high school or college coach in the United States to be charged criminally with allegedly causing a player’s heat-related death. He was acquitted in September 2009 after a three-week trial on charges of reckless homicide and wanton endangerment.