SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) – The confused son of a Cambodian refugee could have to pay $129,000 to his lawyer because his high school wouldn’t defend him from a lawsuit brought against him by a football referee.
Vanndrya Jason Srouy faced a personal injury lawsuit from official John Herlich, who was injured when Srouy blocked an opposing player into his legs during a Crawford-Holtville high school football game in California in 2015.
His mother’s wariness around “authority figures” after living through the Pol Pot regime and young Srouy’s unfamiliarity with U.S. courts led them to believe the school district’s attorneys were representing him – which they were not. Srouy had to find his own counsel to fight a $1 million default judgment entered against him.
The new lawyer’s legal bills exceeded $50,000, but the default judgment was set aside. Referee John Herlich, who suffered a broken leg and rotator cuff injuries that required surgeries, dropped Srouy from the case and settled with the San Diego Unified School District for $50,000.
Srouy and lawyer Michael Kielty then sued San Diego schools for not representing Srouy in the first place. As of the Feb. 24 opinion by the Fourth Appellate District, Kielty’s legal bills are up to $129,000.
“Srouy claims he was ‘never warned or informed’ that he would not be defended by the District in the event of a suit, and that he ‘thus did not know that by playing on the football team for school credit he was potentially subjecting himself . . . to financial ruin,’” Justice Truc Do wrote.
“We do not disagree with the wisdom of informing student athletes (and their parents) of their potential exposure to litigation arising from participation in school-sponsored sports or that the District may not defend its student athletes in such litigation.
“However, for several reasons, we are unable to conclude that the District’s failure to provide such notice could subject it to mandatory duty liability for Srouy’s defense costs when he was sued.”
Among the rejected arguments made by Srouy and Kielty that the district owed a duty to defend Srouy were:
-Education Code regulating activities on school grounds required it;
-The district could have required an injury waiver or obtained insurance covering players;
-Srouy incurred an “injury” as defined by Government Code when he was required to take on a debt to pay legal fees; and
-The district is liable for costs he incurred because he was following the directions of his coach, an employee of the district.
Herlich’s lawsuit alleged Srouy had a pattern of unsportsmanlike behavior and should have been benched. It was served after he graduated and was out of town. His mother, who speaks and reads limited English and is cautious around “anyone in authority,” received the complaint.
“For his part, Srouy had ‘no experience with litigation or courts,’ spoke Khmer at home and struggled with spoken English,” the decision says. “When Srouy returned to San Diego and saw the legal papers, he saw that his ‘name was on a lawsuit’ but otherwise did not understand what the papers meant.”
The two visited Crawford’s athletic director Kelcie Butcher, who told them not to worry because Herlich was after the district’s money. The Srouys did nothing, believing the district’s attorneys were acting on his behalf.
Srouy alleges Butcher told him “the school district’s attorneys will take care of it.”
But on April 11, 2017, Herlich filed a motion for default judgment against Srouy seeking more than $1 million. At a hearing 10 days later, lawyers for Herlich and the district did not tell Srouy that a default judgment had been entered against him.
Almost a year later, he received a notice of deposition. It was there that he learned the district’s attorneys were not representing him.
He hired Kielty, who gained a reprieve from the default judgment because of the circumstances. Herlich then dropped Srouy from his case and settled with the school district during trial.