Ucf player dies after football practice, An appellate court overturned a $10 million settlement that a University of Central Florida football player's family was awarded after he died during practice, WFTV learned Friday.
Wide receiver Ereck Plancher died in 2008. Under the state judge's ruling, the Plancher family was entitled to reimbursement for almost $2.5 million in attorneys' fees and costs, but that ruling was affected by the appellate court's reversal on the $10 million in damages.
The ruling means that the UCF Athletics Association will not have to pay the costs.
The court wrote, in part, that the UCF Athletics Association "is wholly controlled by and intertwined with UCF, in that UCF created it, funded it and can dissolve it, in addition to oversee its day-to-day operations."
Because sovereign immunity caps civil liability for public agencies at $200,000, the court limited Enock and Gisele Plancher's damages to that amount.
The Orange County medical examiner could not determine how the 19-year-old died. Plancher suddenly lost consciousness during drills and died a short time later.
"Ereck remains in our thoughts, and we honor his memory as part of our football program," said UCF spokesperson Grant J. Heston. "The ruling about sovereign immunity confirms our long-held position about this important issue, and we are pleased with the decision."
It later became known that that Plancher had sickle cell anemia: a condition is caused by sickle-shaped red blood cells that get stuck in small blood vessels preventing proper oxygen flow.
UCF's football coach George O'Leary admitted he knew Plancher had sickle cell, but said he did not see indications the player was suffering symptoms.
WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said he's shocked that the reversal was unanimous. Sheaffer said the jury's verdict was unusually high but even more unusual was for the $10 million verdict to be taken away.
Wide receiver Ereck Plancher died in 2008. Under the state judge's ruling, the Plancher family was entitled to reimbursement for almost $2.5 million in attorneys' fees and costs, but that ruling was affected by the appellate court's reversal on the $10 million in damages.
The ruling means that the UCF Athletics Association will not have to pay the costs.
The court wrote, in part, that the UCF Athletics Association "is wholly controlled by and intertwined with UCF, in that UCF created it, funded it and can dissolve it, in addition to oversee its day-to-day operations."
Because sovereign immunity caps civil liability for public agencies at $200,000, the court limited Enock and Gisele Plancher's damages to that amount.
The Orange County medical examiner could not determine how the 19-year-old died. Plancher suddenly lost consciousness during drills and died a short time later.
"Ereck remains in our thoughts, and we honor his memory as part of our football program," said UCF spokesperson Grant J. Heston. "The ruling about sovereign immunity confirms our long-held position about this important issue, and we are pleased with the decision."
It later became known that that Plancher had sickle cell anemia: a condition is caused by sickle-shaped red blood cells that get stuck in small blood vessels preventing proper oxygen flow.
UCF's football coach George O'Leary admitted he knew Plancher had sickle cell, but said he did not see indications the player was suffering symptoms.
WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said he's shocked that the reversal was unanimous. Sheaffer said the jury's verdict was unusually high but even more unusual was for the $10 million verdict to be taken away.
