Dr. Scott Lynch , the former Penn State football team physician who accused head coach James Franklin of interfering in his healthcare decisions, has been awarded $5.25 million by a jury in the wrongful termination lawsuit he filed against Penn State Health and his former boss.
As reported by pennlive.com, Lynch sued his employer, Penn State Health, and the boss who removed him from his Penn State medical roles, Dr. Kevin Black.
According to reporter John Luciew, Lynch maintained his ouster from his dual football roles had followed repeated clashes with Franklin over medical decisions and treatment plans for injured players after the head coach took over in 2014. Lynch claims he was terminated because he refused to “allow a coach to interfere with his medical treatment and return to play decisions."
The jury in Dauphin County on Wednesday night decided on $250,000 in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.
"The jury’s decision follows a seven-day trial packed with Penn State palace intrigue, power moves by two head football coaches and star players taking the stand. And of course, money – lots of it," Luciew wrote.
Lynch was relieved of his dual roles as an orthopedic consultant to the football team and medical director for Penn State Athletics in 2019.
“Dr. Lynch wouldn’t relent. He would not let Coach Franklin interfere with his medical autonomy,” Lynch’s attorney, Steven Marino, told the jury in his closing arguments, citing the reason his client was demoted.
Luciew reported that Lynch "sought punitive damages intended to punish the defendants for what Lynch’s attorney alleges was retaliation for his client’s clashes with Franklin and a subsequent coverup by Penn State Health to distance the coach from the decision to oust the doctor."
The defense asserted there was no evidence Lynch ever altered any of his medical treatment of players under pressure from Franklin -- or anyone else, pennlive reported. Franklin and Penn State Athletics were dropped from the lawsuit over a filing technicality, and Franklin was never called as a defense witness.
Wrote Luciew, "In her closing, defense attorney Sarah Bouchard said her clients did 'nothing wrong' in removing a Hershey-bound football doctor who wasn’t “all-in” on performing his Penn State duties because he was never available in State College full time."
