By The Law Offices of John Day, P.C. on Jun 16, 2025 06:00 am
Where a cheerleader was injured while doing a shoulder sit before a football game, the ruling that there was no negligence because the supervising teacher acted with reasonable care was affirmed. In Wherry v. Obion County Board of Education, No. W2024-00693-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. April 28, 2025), the plaintiff was a cheerleader on her school sideline cheer team. At one particular football game, the cheer coach (who was an English teacher) noticed standing water near the bleachers. She told the cheerleaders not to perform stunts in that area. The coach spoke with TSSAA officials and another adult, who confirmed that the playing surface was safe. The cheerleaders warmed up in the end zone, after which they did not report standing water and had no mud on their shoes. Nonetheless, the coach told them to limit their stunts to a shoulder sit. Immediately before the game, the cheerleaders warmed up the shoulder sit two times with no incident with the coach nearby. When it was time for the team to run onto the field, the plaintiff attempted to climb onto her base to execute a shoulder sit and fell, suffering serious injuries. The plaintiff and her parents filed a negligence action against the county board of education, alleging that 1) the negligent acts of the coach were the cause of the plaintiff’s injuries and 2) the school district was negligent in its hiring of the coach. After a bench trial, the trial court found in favor of the defendant school board, and the Court of Appeals affirmed.
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