Bassett v. Pa. Interscholastic Athletic Ass'n

WILLIAM BASSETT, Individually and as Parent and Natural Guardian of B.B., Minor, JOHN and ASHLEY MILLER, Individually and as Parents and Natural Legal Guardians of E.G., M.G. &M.M., Minors, BRENT and BRIDGET CONKLIN, Individually and as Parents and Natural Legal Guardians of T.C., Minor, JOHN and MICHELLE MCMULLEN, Individually and as Parents and Natural Legal Guardians of O.M., Minor, JEREMY SPONTAK, Individually and as Parent and Natural Legal Guardian of J.S., Minor, BENNY and TAMMY BUTLER, Individually and as Parents and Natural Legal Guardians of J.B. &J.B., Minors, PATRICK and VALERIE CARFLEY, Individually and as Parents and Natural Legal Guardians of A.R. &A.C., Minors, AARON and ALMA RODGERS, Individually and as Parents and Natural Legal Guardians of A.R., Minor, HOWARD FORREST, Individually and as Parent and Natural Legal Guardian of J.F., Minor, SHANNON HERRING, Individually and as Parent and Natural Legal Guardian of S.H., Minor, and SYLVIA NORONHA, Individually and as Parent and Natural Legal Guardian of S.N., Minor, Plaintiffs, v. PENNSYLVANIA INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION, INC., Defendant.

Civil Action No. 3:22-cv-6

United States District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania

February 11, 2022

OPINION AND ORDER

Stephanie L. Haines United States District Judge

This is a civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiffs are a group of 17 parents of student athlete wrestlers (“Plaintiff parents” and/or “Plaintiff student athlete wrestlers”) who transferred from other schools and/or home school programs in the 2020-21 and 2021 -22 school years to attend Bishop McCort Catholic High School, a private Catholic school located in Johnstown Pennsylvania. Plaintiff William Bassett (“Bassett”) is both a parent of wrestler B.B and the head wrestling coach for Bishop McCort.

Prior to initiating this action, on December 14, 2021, Defendant Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, Inc. (“PIAA”) issued a written decision finding Bassett and Bishop McCort engaged in conduct which constituted athletic recruiting under Article VI, Section 9 of the PIAA's By-laws (“Recruiting Rule”) (ECF No. 42-8). The PIAA imposed sanctions on Bishop McCort its wrestling program, and Bassett by barring Bishop McCort's wrestling program and students from the PIAA post-season championships for the 2021 -22 and 2022-23 school years, placing the Bishop McCort athletic program on probation through June 30, 2024, requiring Bishop McCort to report to PIAA District VI on remedial measures no later than February 1, 2022, and disqualifying Bassett from coaching any athletic teams at any PIAA school for a period of two years, effective December 1, 2021. Id. at p. 9.

Pending before the Court is Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction (ECF No. 2) wherein Plaintiffs request the Court to issue a preliminary injunction to enjoin the PIAA from enforcing these sanctions against them. On January 19, 2022, the PIAA filed a Brief in Opposition to the Motion for Preliminary Injunction (ECF No. 17). The Court conducted a preliminary injunction hearing on January 26 and 28, 2022 (ECF Nos. 29 and 36), and the parties have filed post-hearing briefs (ECF Nos. 40 and 41). Notably, Bishop McCort is not a party to this lawsuit, and the parties agree the sanctions against Bishop McCort and its wrestling program are therefore not being challenged in this action.

Upon consideration of the testimony and evidence in the case, the Court finds Plaintiffs failed to meet their burden to demonstrate they are likely to prevail on the merits of their claims or they will suffer immediate, irreparable harm if the Court does not issue a preliminary injunction. Accordingly, the Court will DENY Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction (ECF No. 2) for the following reasons which constitute the Court's findings of fact and conclusions of law.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

The PIAA is a Pennsylvania non-profit voluntary membership corporation composed of public and private high schools in Pennsylvania, with the purpose and function of developing and enforcing rules regulating interscholastic athletic competition among and between its member schools (ECF No. 17 at p. 9). Bishop McCort has voluntarily chosen to join the PIAA and is a PIAA member school located in PIAA District VI, which encompasses the counties of Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Huntingdon, Indiana and Mifflin. Id. at p. 10. As a PIAA member school, Bishop McCort must agree to conduct their interscholastic athletic programs in accordance with the PIAA By-Laws and Constitution. Id.

A. Plaintiff Student Athlete Wrestlers Transfer to Bishop McCort

According to Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint, on November 16, 2020, five of the Plaintiff student athlete wrestlers transferred from the Forest Hills School District to Bishop McCort, one of which was Bassett's son, B.B. (ECF No. 22, ¶49). From December 2020, to January, 2021, three more Plaintiff student athlete wrestlers enrolled at Bishop McCort from home school programs. Id. at ¶¶50-51. In February, 2021, Bassett was hired as a STEM teacher at Bishop McCort, and in late-May, 2021, Bassett was hired as the head wrestling coach for Bishop McCort. Id. at ¶¶52, 54.

One Plaintiff student athlete wrestler transferred to Bishop McCort during that time period, and five Plaintiff student athlete wrestlers transferred to Bishop McCort after Bassett was hired as the wrestling coach. Id. at ¶¶52-59.

B. October 6, 2021 PIAA District VI Committee Hearing

In certain transfer situations, the PIAA By-Laws require schools to complete Athletic Transfer Waiver Request Forms for student athletes. These forms are completed by the principal from the student athlete's previous school and the principal of the student athlete's new school. The principal for the new school will then submit the transfer forms to the PIAA home district for that school, in this case District VI, to determine that student athlete's athletic eligibility. The forms provide space to state the reason for the student athlete's transfer and specifically include a box to check, and space to explain, if the principal believes the student athlete is transferring to his or her school for athletic reasons.^[1] The transfer forms for the Plaintiff student athlete wrestlers indicated they were not transferring for athletic reasons, and accordingly, were all approved by PIAA District VI (ECF No. 22 at ¶62).

The Forest Hills School District requested the PIAA review the circumstances of the transfer of Plaintiff student athlete wrestler A.R., a tenth grader who transferred in August 2021 from Forest Hills to Bishop McCort, because Forest Hills had concerns the transfer was motivated in some way by an athletic purpose (ECF No. 42-6 at p. 4). On October 6, 2021, the District VI Committee held a hearing to consider A.R.'s athletic eligibility (ECF No. 42-6). The transcript from that hearing indicates representatives from the Forest Hills School District, Plaintiff Aaron Rodgers, the PIAA's Solicitor, Attorney Gary Jubas, and Bishop McCort's Solicitor, Attorney Gary Vitko, participated in the hearing. Id.

At the hearing, Bishop McCort and Forest Hills were advised by William Marshall (“Marshall”), as Chair of PIAA District VI, that during the hearing, Forest Hills would be able to offer any testimony or witnesses related to the transfer of A.R., and then once that testimony was completed, Bishop McCort and its witnesses would have the opportunity to testify and provide evidence related to the matter. Id. at p. 5. The hearing was closed as Marshall noted that only affiliated persons were in attendance. Id.

For its presentation at the hearing, the Forest Hills representative provided photographs of A.R. working out in Bassett's home and pictures of A.R. at Bassett's home with members of the Bishop McCort wrestling team. Id. at pp. 10-11. Forest Hills also presented the Committee with two videos of A.R. practicing in Bassett's basement. Id. Forest Hills believed these photos and videos were taken prior to A.R. beginning the process to transfer from Forest Hills to Bishop McCort in August 2021 and thus indicated he transferred for athletic intent. Id. at p.10.

For Bishop McCort's presentation at the hearing, Attorney Vitko called Plaintiff Rodgers as a witness at the hearing. Id. at p.ll. Plaintiff Rodgers testified at length about his desire to have A.R. attend Bishop McCort in order to take advantage of the academic programs offered by Bishop McCort, in particular, Bishop McCort's ability to have in person learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and for synchronous learning if the students did have to be remote. Id. at pp. 15-17.^[2]

As to the photographs, Plaintiff Rodgers identified one of the photos showed A.R. attending a July 29, 2021 wrestling camp advertised by Bassett at Divine Mercy, which the PIAA identified as a Bishop McCort feeder school. Id. at 25. Plaintiff Rodgers testified the two videos, one of which was dated May 17, 2021, showed A.R. working out at Bassett's house. Id. at p. 26. The testimony indicated A.R. was a member of a wrestling club, Ranger Pride Wrestling, which was coached by Bassett and other individuals, including Plaintiff John Miller, and A.R regularly worked out at The Compound, a private gym owned by Bassett and other individuals. Id. at p. 4041. Plaintiff Rodgers testified A.R. had not wrestled for Bassett in competition since Bishop McCort hired Bassett as the head wrestling coach, but did continue to wrestle for Bassett at The Compound, at Bassett's house, at Divine Mercy, and at Ranger Pride Wrestling events or anything the wrestling club put on. Id. at p. 37. Plaintiff Rodgers testified that most of the McCort kids were involved in either Ranger Pride Wrestling or The...