Williams v. Bd. of Supervisors of the Univ. of La. Sys.

• Decision Date: 26 February 2014
• Docket Number: No. 48,763–CA.,48,763–CA.
• Citation: 135 So.3d 804
• Parties: Tiffany WILLIAMS, as the Natural Tutrix of Gavin Williams, Minor Son of Henry L. White, III, Plaintiff–Appellee v. The BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF the UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA SYSTEM, aka the Board of Trustees for State Colleges and Universities, Defendants–Appellants.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

135 So.3d 804

Tiffany WILLIAMS, as the Natural Tutrix of Gavin Williams, Minor Son of Henry L. White, III, Plaintiff–Appellee

v.The BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF the UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA SYSTEM, aka the Board of Trustees for State Colleges and Universities, Defendants–Appellants.

No. 48,763–CA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

Feb. 26, 2014.

Decuir, Clark & Adams, LLP, by Winston G. Decuir, Sr., Winson G. Decuir, Jr., Baton Rouge, Brandon J. Decuir, for Appellants.

Gregorio, Gregory, Chafin & Johnson, by Sam N. Gregorio, Scott J. Chafin, Jr., Shreveport, for Appellee.

Before BROWN, LOLLEY, and PITMAN, JJ.

BROWN, Chief Judge.

This is a tort case arising out of the death of Henry White, III, who suffered a heatstroke following an intensive outdoor run which was part of an “unorganized” and unauthorized basketball team practice at Grambling State University on August 14, 2009. Because of the severity of the heatstroke, Henry's body went into Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation, and he died on August 26, 2009. Plaintiff, Tiffany Williams, the mother of Henry's biological son, Gavin, filed suit on Gavin's behalf seeking wrongful death and survival damages from defendants, the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System a/k/a/ Louisiana Board of Trustees for State Colleges and Universities, and Grambling State University.¹

Jury trial was held January 28 through February 4, 2013. In accordance with the jury form signed, dated and filed on February 4, 2013, in favor of plaintiff, with 100% fault allocated to defendants, the trial court rendered judgment in plaintiff's favor awarding damages totaling $1,595,771. It is from this judgment that defendants have appealed. Defendants are not contesting liability; their appeal raises only evidentiary and procedural issues. For the following reasons, we affirm.

Facts and Relevant Procedural History

After having played two years of junior college basketball, Henry White, III, whose home was in Wisconsin, accepted a scholarship to play basketball at Grambling State University (“GSU”) beginning in the fall of 2009. Henry arrived on campus on August 12, 2009, several days past the mandated reporting time for basketball players, which was August 9th. He attended a brief team meeting where school registration, upcoming practice schedules and general program information were discussed. Players who reported to campus after August 9th were told of an “unorganized” practice they were required to attend which would be held on August 14th and would include weight lifting and conditioning.

On August 13th, the night before the scheduled practice, Henry and some teammates went to a nightclub in the Grambling area. One of his teammates, Rydell Harris, stated that Henry had a few drinks and may have been “buzzed.” Henry stayed until the bar closed, then went back to his dorm room. The weight training/conditioning practice started at 2 p.m. on August 14th. At that time, Henry was fine, according to Rydell. After the weight lifting portion of the workout, which lasted approximately two hours and involved each player “maxing out” on various exercises, Henry and the other players who arrived at GSU after the August 9th date were told they would run a 4.5 mile conditioning run around the campus. The players were informed that they were required to finish the run in 45 minutes; the penalty for refusing to run was possible suspension from the team.

Coach Stephen Portland followed the runners in a golf cart. There was no water provided to the players, although it was a hot August afternoon, with a temperature of 91 degrees and a heat index of around 100 degrees. Henry and Rydell Harris, who was also new to GSU, did not know the route, and they were told to follow the older players in front of them. Henry's physical on file with GSU showed that he was a “healthy 21–year–old male with no restrictions to sports participation.” Henry finished the required 4.5 mile run in the top half of the runners. Rydell, who finished the run ahead of Henry, turned around to look for him and saw another teammate carrying an unconscious Henry into the gym. At that point, Coach Portland was about ten minutes from the gym as he was supervising the remaining runners still on the course. The players carried Henry into the gym and tried to give him water from a nearby fountain; he was unconscious, so they began splashing water onto him with their hands in an attempt to cool him down. When Coach Portland finally arrived at the gym, he learned that Coach Stitt had called the head athletic trainer, Jessica Robinson, who was at the football field overseeing practice.² Ms. Robinson called 911, then hurried to the gym. She observed that Henry was pale and clammy, and he was breathing rapidly and mumbling. Because he was unconscious, he was unresponsive. Ms. Robinson had several players help her ice Henry down to lower his core temperature.

When EMS workers arrived at the gym, Henry's condition was already critical. They noted his unresponsive condition. An IV line was started and he was treated with ice packs.³ He was transported to North Louisiana Medical Center, and his core temperature upon admittance was 104.2 degrees. Henry was transported to LSUMC. As a result of the heatstroke, Henry's body went into Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation, which causes the proteins in the body to break down and become irreversibly damaged. The cells in all of the body's organs break apart and release waste into the bloodstream, and this waste from the cells causes clots to form throughout the bloodstream and in every organ. When this happens, the body loses all of its clotting factors and begins to bleed horribly. At the same time, the body continues to clot throughout, which deprives the body of oxygen.

Henry underwent kidney and liver dialysis, and he was put on a ventilator in the ICU. He was confused and disoriented, he could feel pain, and he had difficulty breathing even while on the ventilator. By the fifth day of his hospitalization, Henry had a swollen stomach and eyes, jaundice, and bloody fluid coming out of his feeding tube. An exploratory laparotomy on his bowels showed that a large portion of Henry's small intestine had become necrotic and was beyond saving, so that portion was removed. On the eighth day, doctors cut holes and the upper and lower parts of Henry's abdomen, pulled the remaining bowel through the skin, and attached bags to drain the fluid accumulating in his stomach. At that time, five cups of blood were taken out of Henry's abdomen. He had blood clots in his mouth, and there was blood draining into his ostomy bags. On day 12, a repeat exploratory laparotomy showed that Henry's bowel was completely gangrenous. Henry died the next day, which was August 26, 2009.

The procedural history of this case as it relates to the instant appeal primarily involves the court's recognition of a Wisconsin paternity judgment and several evidentiary rulings. On October 28, 2010, a certified, authenticated judgment rendered by a Wisconsin court declaring that Henry White, III, was the father of Gavin Williams was filed ex parte by plaintiff. That same day, the trial court rendered judgment making this Wisconsin judgment executory in the instant action as a judgment establishing filiation.

Following the completion of discovery, defendants filed several motions in limine to exclude, inter alia, the testimony of several witnesses, specifically: William Trinkle, Thomas Stallworth, Zoe Meeks, Leigh Steinberg, and Todd Thoma, as well as several exhibits. These motions were denied by the trial court via judgment on January 29, 2013.

Plaintiff filed several motions in limine to exclude, inter alia: evidence of character and prior bad acts of Henry White, including reference to prior alcohol and marijuana use/abuse and an arrest for possession of cocaine; evidence of a positive drug test for marijuana in Henry's medical records on the date of his initial treatment for heatstroke; lab test results for consumption of alcohol the evening before Henry's heatstroke; evidence relating to the personal life of one of plaintiff's expert witnesses; witness testimony regarding the relationship between Henry, Tiffany Williams and Gavin; evidence of underlying medical conditions of the decedent; evidence of the negligence or fault of the EMTs; any testimony or inference that Henry White was not the father of Gavin; and, medical records from North Louisiana Medical Center and LSUMC.

The trial court granted plaintiff's motions in limine and excluded: evidence of the character and prior bad acts of Henry White, including reference to prior alcohol and marijuana usage and his misdemeanor arrest for possession of cocaine; reference to plaintiff's expert witness's personal issues; evidence of a positive drug test for marijuana in Henry's medical records on the date of initial treatment for heatstroke; any evidence on the issue of whether Henry was Gavin's father; any evidence about personal relationships except for the relationship between Henry and Gavin; the testimony of Henry White's mother and stepfather; and, any reference to underlying medical conditions that Henry White may have had.⁴

One of the jury instructions defendants included in their pretrial proposed jury charges, filed on January 18, 2013, had to do with the limitation of liability on the state and its political subdivisions and contained language about the statutory cap set forth in La. R.S. 13:5106(B)(2):

The total liability of the state and political subdivisions for all damages for wrongful death of any one person, including all claims and derivative claims, exclusive of property damage, medical care and related benefits and loss of earnings or loss of support, and loss of future support, as provided in this Section, shall not exceed five hundred thousand dollars, regardless of the number of suits filed or claims made for the wrongful...