Just when Cal was about to right the ship
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 7:21 pm
Family of Cal player files wrongful death suit
The Associated Press 8:18 p.m. EDT August 5, 2014
OAKLAND (AP) — The family of former California football player Ted Agu filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Regents of the University of California on Tuesday, alleging "reckless and negligent behavior" by the staff toward an athlete known to have sickle cell trait.
The lawsuit filed in California Superior Court repeatedly says that the university was negligent for hiring and retaining trainer Robert Jackson, who previously worked at Central Florida, where he was the sole certified athletic trainer present when wide receiver Ereck Plancher died following conditioning drills in March 2008.
The suit says that Jackson was the most experienced trainer at the scene when Agu died after experiencing "extreme fatigue" during an offseason training run in Berkeley on Feb. 7. The family's attorneys argue that, like Plancher, Agu had sickle cell trait and should not have been put through a "lethal conditioning drill."
"The same thing happened here," said attorney Steve Yerrid, who also represented Plancher's family. "What you see here is a bona fide tragedy."
The Associated Press 8:18 p.m. EDT August 5, 2014
OAKLAND (AP) — The family of former California football player Ted Agu filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Regents of the University of California on Tuesday, alleging "reckless and negligent behavior" by the staff toward an athlete known to have sickle cell trait.
The lawsuit filed in California Superior Court repeatedly says that the university was negligent for hiring and retaining trainer Robert Jackson, who previously worked at Central Florida, where he was the sole certified athletic trainer present when wide receiver Ereck Plancher died following conditioning drills in March 2008.
The suit says that Jackson was the most experienced trainer at the scene when Agu died after experiencing "extreme fatigue" during an offseason training run in Berkeley on Feb. 7. The family's attorneys argue that, like Plancher, Agu had sickle cell trait and should not have been put through a "lethal conditioning drill."
"The same thing happened here," said attorney Steve Yerrid, who also represented Plancher's family. "What you see here is a bona fide tragedy."
