A California school district is being sued for failing to follow safety protocols after a cheerleader suffered a concussion in 2018.
According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, Sasha Faraci filed a lawsuit against Sweetwater Union High School District in San Diego Superior Court on March 5. She is seeking more than $25,000 in damages for medical expenses, legal fees and general damages.
Faraci’s daughter was a freshman at Olympian High School in Chula Vista when she fell and hit her head on the floor during cheerleading practice on Sept. 24, 2018. The lawsuit alleges that the cheerleading coaches didn’t seek medical attention and waited 45 minutes before calling the girls’ parents to pick her up, then failed to tell Faraci’s husband that his daughter had hit her head.
Two days later, the Faraci’s primary care doctor diagnosed the daughter with a concussion that, according to the lawsuit, “has required her to seek ongoing medical care, forced her to be absent from school for lengthy periods of time, essentially deprived her of her freshman academic year and her athletic pursuits.”
“Her parents told me that she has never been the same since,” said Marlea Dell’Anno, the family’s lawyer, who also said that the cheerleading coaches are no longer at Olympian. “They just want their happy girl back.”
Faraci said she spoke at two school board meetings in 2018, saying that the coaches failed to follow procedures. She said that she decided to take the matter to court after no action was taken.
