LAUSD sued over death of South East High School football player

Football is a dangerous game, and everyone who straps on a helmet knows it.

But the family of a 16-year-old player who died after a devastating injury is now asking a court to decide whether his death was simply part of the game or whether his school district allegedly made the danger worse.

Attorney Michael P. Hernandez, a partner at HHJ Trial Attorneys, told The California Post that distinction is crucial under the state’s “primary assumption of risk” doctrine.

“California follows a doctrine called primary assumption of risk. A player who steps onto a football field accepts the risks that are inherent to the sport itself,” Hernandez told The California Post.

In other words, a school isn’t automatically on the hook whenever a player gets hurt in a sport built around collisions.

But that protection has limits, Hernandez said.

“A hard, poorly maintained surface is not an inherent risk of football. It is a maintenance and safety failure,” Hernandez said.

That distinction is at the heart of the lawsuit filed by Garcia’s family.

Christopher, a junior varsity player at South East High School, played in a varsity game Aug. 23, 2024, according to his family and attorneys.

During the game, his head struck the ground after what his legal team describes as a “textbook defensive tackle.”

The hit caused a catastrophic brain injury.

Christopher died 11 days later despite emergency medical treatment.

His family alleges that LAUSD failed to “provide safe facilities, proper equipment, and adequate supervision.”

The case has already reignited a heated debate over where the inherent dangers of football end and school responsibility begins.

And because Christopher’s family describes the play as a “textbook tackle,” some have argued that the tragedy looks more like a freak accident than proof of school negligence.

But the family argues that football’s inherent risks aren’t the issue.

Instead, they allege the district failed to properly address dangers that could have been controlled.

Hernandez said defective or improperly fitted equipment can fall outside the ordinary risks a player agrees to accept. 

He also pointed to supervision and emergency medical response as responsibilities of the district rather than risks an athlete assumes by playing.

Concussion procedures could also become an issue, Hernandez said.

Clearing an injured athlete to continue playing — or failing to have proper return-to-play procedures — is a matter of supervision and training, Hernandez said, rather than an inherent risk of football.

“So the legal question in the Garcia case is not whether tackling is dangerous. It obviously is, and everyone accepts that,” Hernandez said.

The question is whether LAUSD’s alleged failures involving the field, equipment, medical response and safety protocols pushed Christopher’s risk beyond what he accepted when he suited up.

For his family, the lawsuit is about more than what happened on one football field.

“Our main thing is we just don’t want this to happen to anybody else,” Christopher’s brother said during Monday’s press conference. “It’s terrible.”

Christopher’s sister, Kimberly Garcia, wiped away tears as she remembered him.

“He was the funniest kid you’ll ever meet. He was so sweet, caring,” she said.

The Post reached out to LAUSD for comment.

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