Award to injured high school athlete for lost enjoyment of life was not excessive

Law Reporter, Feb 2003

Day v. Ouachita Parish Sch. Bd., 823 So. 2d 1039 (La. Ct. App. 2002).

A Louisiana appellate court held that a high school student whose injury prevented him from playing varsity sports was entitled to damages for lost enjoyment of life as well as pain and suffering.

Here, Day, a high school football player, injured his back while lifting weights in weight training class. Day's injury had left him with severe pain in his lower back and a disk protrusion that will likely require future surgery. His mother sued the school board and football coach, and a jury awarded damages for pain and suffering and for lost enjoyment of life. Defendants appealed, contending, among other things, that no award for lost enjoyment of life was justified by Day's injury.

Affirming, the court observed that Day's injury cost him a probable opportunity to participate in varsity football and baseball in high school, a goal for which he had trained since the sixth grade. The evidence also demonstrated that the loss of this opportunity caused Day emotional anguish, the court said. Day said that because participating in school athletics was so important to him, he lost interest in his academic work, missed school, and failed his classes after learning that he could not participate in sports.

Day acknowledged that he had been able to play summer league baseball since his injury, but said that he was twice required to stop playing due to back pain. His testimony was corroborated by other witnesses who had observed his reactions to the pain and resulting physical limitations.

The court said that a plaintiff whose lifestyle was detrimentally altered or who was forced to give up activities because of an injury is entitled to recover damages for loss of enjoyment of life. The court noted that Day's injury will force him to give up the chance to participate in certain other activities besides sports, including military service and any strenuous occupations. Based on this record, the court concluded that the award of $50,000 for loss of enjoyment of life in addition to $195,000 in pain and suffering damages was not excessive.

Plaintiff's Counsel

*Donald IL Brown, Monroe, La. *R. Allen Breithaupt, Monroe, La.