Facts:
Plaintiff Andrew Koffman, a 13 year old middle school student at a public school in Botetourt County, had begun participating on the football team. Before Koffman joined the team, he had never played football in his life, so it was his first season playing organized football. His position was a defensive player, and he was third string. Defendant James Garnett was employed at Botetourt County by the school board as an assistant coach for the football team, and was in charge of the defensive players. His responsibilities involved training and supervision. Early in the season, the team’s assistant coach was not happy with the defensive players tackling skills in the game they had lost. In addition, Garnett ordered Andy to hold a football, and stand upright motionless. Without no warnings, Coach Garnett put his hands around Andy’s body, lifted him off his feet, and slammed him to the ground. Andy weighed 144 pounds approximately, and Garnett weighed 260 pounds. The force of the tackle was so serious that Andy broke a bone in his left arm. Prior to this incident, the coaches had never used physical force as a form of instruction. In this appeal, the trial court dismissed the complaint.
Issues:…show more content… The main issue that arose from this case was whether the plaintiff had enough evidence to establish a claim for gross negligence, assault, and battery. Therefore, the questions to be asked for the court would be the following: (1)Did the coach commit assault? (2)Did he commit
