Legal Issues in Athletics Administration

Over the course of the year, lawsuits were filed, court cases were decided, legislation was enacted, administrative agency rulings were released, state athletic association decisions were issued, and other legal pronouncements were handed down impacting school sports programs. In each instance, the principles established illustrate the importance for school administrators and athletics personnel of understanding contemporary issues in sports law and proactively applying that knowledge to policy development and day-to-day management of their athletics programs.

Constitutional Law: Due Process & Vaping

In September 2019, in L.H. v. Lawrenceburg Community School Corporation, a Dearborn, Indiana, Superior Court judge ruled that the district did not violate the due process rights of a football player caught with a vape pen in May in violation of the student-athlete code of conduct regarding possession of alcohol, tobacco or drugs by suspending him for five of the team’s nine games scheduled for the 2019 season. The complaint filed in the suit claimed that the policy allows for suspension from athletic participation only when a student tests positive for the use of alcohol, tobacco or drugs (not for mere possession) and that even with a positive test, the maximum penalty is 50 percent of a season’s games. The complaint asserted that the player, L.H., did not test positive for nicotine in a drug test administered in June and that, even if he had, the fivegame suspension was greater than the 50 percent allowed for such a violation (5/9 = 55.5%). read more at nfhs.org