Scott v. Okla. Secondary Sch. Activities Ass'n

• Decision Date: 01 October 2013
• Docket Number: No. 111,226.,111,226.
• Parties: Brayden SCOTT, Appellant, v. OKLAHOMA SECONDARY SCHOOL ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATION, Appellee.
• Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court

313 P.3d 891

Brayden SCOTT, Appellant,

v.OKLAHOMA SECONDARY SCHOOL ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATION, Appellee.

No. 111,226.

Supreme Court of Oklahoma.

Oct. 1, 2013.

On Appeal from the District Court of Cherokee County; Honorable Darrell G. Shepard, Trial Judge

¶ 0 In a proceeding brought by student athlete, the trial court denied a permanent injunction against the OSSAA enjoining it from enforcing its sanctions against student athlete following its determination that the student athlete, school, and others violated the OSSAA's rules and policies. Student athlete appealed, challenging the applicable standard of review and alleging that the OSSAA's actions were arbitrary and capricious. We hold that the trial court applied the incorrect standard of review, and that under any standard, the OSSAA's actions were arbitrary and capricious.

JUDGMENT OF THE DISTRICT COURT REVERSED.

Chadwick Smith, Tahlequah, Oklahoma, for Appellant.

Mark S. Grossman, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Todd Hembree, Tahlequah, Oklahoma, for Appellee.

KAUGER, J.

¶ 1 The questions presented on appeal are whether the district court: 1) applied the incorrect standard of review in determining whether the actions of the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA) warranted the issuance of a permanent injunction; and 2) erred in its determination that there was no substantial likelihood of Petitioner Brayden Scott (Scott) prevailing on his claim that the OSSAA acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner. We hold that the district court erred in applying the wrong standard of review, and that, under any standard, the district court erred by failing to find Scott had a substantial likelihood of prevailing on his claim that the OSSAA acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner.

FACTS

¶ 2 Scott is a former student at Sequoyah School (Sequoyah) in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, a federal Indian boarding school operated by the Cherokee Nation. At the time the events giving rise to this cause occurred, Scott was a senior at Sequoyah and quarterback of the varsity football team. Respondent OSSAA is an association that regulates interscholastic sports competition in Oklahoma. It identifies itself as a voluntary association of Oklahoma secondary schools that regulates the interscholastic activities of member schools which serves to ensure that desired educational goals are not shortchanged by an overemphasis on athletics.¹

¶ 3 In July of 2012, the OSSAA apparently received a copy of a newspaper article concerning Sequoyah's successes attracting the attention of college football recruiters.² Based on comments made in the article, the OSSAA became concerned that Sequoyah might have violated what the OSSAA considered to be its long-standing prohibition on member schools paying for their student-athletes to attend individual athletic camps. The OSSAA notified the school of its concerns and asked for confirmation as to whether Sequoyah had paid for selected students to attend individual camps. The OSSAA alleges it received no response prior to September 10, 2012.³ At that point it received a response from Coach Brent Scott offering somewhat vague answers to its request for more information.⁴

¶ 4 Concerned that multiple students might be ineligible due to violations and yet still participating in games during the season, the OSSAA sought specific details about which students might have attended camps and had their tuition paid by either Sequoyah or sources that were not their own family, such as parents of other students. Despite apparently stressing the urgency of its requests, the OSSAA did not receive any more information from the head coach until Sequoyah, in a letter dated September 27, 2012, instructed Coach Brent Scott to respond to the OSSAA's request by 8:00 a.m. the next morning.⁵

¶ 5 October 16, 2012, appears to be the date on which the OSSAA was first able to confirm the identities of students for whom Sequoyah had paid tuition or fees for individual football camps and the camps that had been attended at school expense from 2009 to 2012. This information was provided to the OSSAA in a letter and attached spreadsheet sent by the Sequoyah Athletic Director. ⁶

¶ 6 On October 22, 2012, OSSAA Executive Director Sheakly spoke on the phone with Sequoyah's Athletic Director about the possible ineligibility of several students, including Scott, as well as the head football coach. The exact details of the conversation are disputed. Scott alleged that the OSSAA declared him and other students ineligible at that point.⁷ The OSSAA alleged that it informed Sequoyah that it expected the players in question and the coach would be held out of competition in order to avoid possible future violations and attached sanctions.⁸ Regardless, on this date the OSSAA considered Scott and certain of his fellow players ineligible to play, and the head coach ineligible to coach, based on what it considered to be violations of its rules and policies concerning tuition payment for participation in individual camps. Sequoyah's athletic director apparently conceded the violations and announced it was suspending the head coach, but he thought that the players should be allowed to continue to participate because they were blameless. At this point there were only two games remaining in the regular season, scheduled for October 26 and November 2, 2012.

¶ 7 One of Scott's teammates, through his parent and attorney, sought relief in the District Court of Cherokee County on October 25, 2012, by filing a Verified Petition and Application for Temporary Restraining Order and/or Temporary Injunction. The player argued that even though administrative remedies had not been exhausted, an administrative appeal would not take place until after the end of the player's senior season and irreparable harm would result. In a Temporary Restraining Order issued on October 25, 2012, the court ordered the OSSAA to refrain from enforcing its determination of ineligibility for not just the represented player, but for Scott and all other players as well as the head coach, so that they could finish the regular season. The day after the issuance of the Temporary Restraining Order, Scott moved to intervene in the litigation as a plaintiff, and was permitted by the court to do so.

¶ 8 Meanwhile, the OSSAA continued its investigation, interviewing students and parents in the course of an attempt to obtain more detailed information. After conducting the investigation, on November 3, 2012, the Executive Director of the OSSAA directed that Sequoyah forfeit each of the wins in the current season, instructed that Sequoyah was not to participate in the state football playoffs, and also directed that the head coach (already on suspension by Sequoyah) not participate in coaching until reinstated by the OSSAA's Board of Directors.⁹ Sequoyah and the head coach were notified that the determinations could be appealed at the upcoming Board of Director's meeting on November 7, 2012. On November 6, 2012, OSSAA Staff issued a twenty-page report concerning its investigation, its findings regarding the student-athletes' participation in camps, and recommended sanctions. The OSSAA Board adopted the findings and all but one of the proposed penalties.

¶ 9 In response to the OSSAA's November 3 decision, on November 7, 2012, the same day as the OSSAA's Board Meeting, Scott petitioned the district court for a declaratory judgment and permanent injunction, to prevent the OSSAA from enforcing its ruling and to allow Scott and his affected teammates to participate in the 2012 state football championships. Sequoyah announced it would not contest the OSSAA's final decision and it did not join in Scott's petition for a permanent injunction. The district court denied Scott's request for a permanent injunction.

¶ 10 On November 9, 2012 (the day the state football playoffs were to begin), Scott filed an Application for Original Jurisdiction and Petition for an Emergency Writ of Mandamus, as well as a Petition in Error also requesting a writ of mandamus be issued in this Court, ordering the district court to issue an injunction against the OSSAA. We denied Scott's Application for an Emergency Writ of Mandamus on November 9, 2012, and on November 29, 2012, recast Scott's Petition in Error as an appeal from a final order of the district court.

¶ 11 On December 12, 2012, we issued a show cause order inquiring why the appeal should not be dismissed as abandoned. Scott responded on December 28, 2012, and this Court permitted the appeal to continue on January 3, 2013. On January 11, 2013, Scott moved to stay his appeal pending final disposition of his request for a declaratory judgment in the trial court, which this Court denied on March 14, 2013. The OSSAA moved to dismiss the appeal for mootness on January 25, 2013, and the motion was denied on March 11, 2013. On May 14, 2013, Scott filed a motion to retain the appeal in this Court, which was granted on June 26, 2013. This cause was assigned to this office on June 26, 2013.

¶ 12 On appeal, Scott argues that the District Court erred when it denied his request for a permanent injunction against the OSSAA on November 8, 2012, because: 1) it exercised the improper standard of judicial review by giving absolute deference to the OSSAA's decisions; and 2) it found he had no likelihood of succeeding on his claim that the OSSAA acted in an arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable manner.

I.

The District Court Erred in Applying the Wrong Standard of Review, but Under any Standard, the District Court Erred by Failing to Find Scott had a Substantial Likelihood of Prevailing on his Claim that the OSSAA acted in an Arbitrary and Capricious Manner.

A.This Matter Falls Within Long–Standing Exceptions to the Mootness Doctrine.

¶ 13 The OSSAA asserts that this appeal should be dismissed as moot and unripe for appellate review. The OSSAA acknowledges that this Court denied a similar motion on March 11, 2013, but that it...