A Pennsylvania jury awarded Dr. Scott Lynch, Penn State's former football team doctor, $5.25 million in damages in his wrongful termination lawsuit against several parties, including his employer Penn State Health. The Dauphin County jury deliberated for several hours Wednesday after a seven-day trial that invoked Penn State coach James Franklin and included testimony from former players Saquon Barkley and Trace McSorley.
Pennlive.com reported Wednesday that the jury awarded Lynch $250,000 in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages stemming from the civil suit Lynch filed in 2019. The plaintiffs were Penn State Health, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Dr. Kevin Black, Lynch's former supervisor who terminated Lynch as the football team's orthopedic physician and Penn State's director of athletic medicine in 2019.
In a statement Thursday, Penn State Health said it is considering an appeal.
"We are extremely disappointed to learn of the jury’s decision, as we continue to believe that the claims in the complaint have no merit," the statement said. "Penn State Health will soon determine whether it will appeal the decision. Penn State Health and the University remain dedicated to the health and well-being of our student-athletes."
Lynch initially filed the suit against the current defendants as well as Franklin, Penn State University and two former athletic administrators, including former athletic director Sandy Barbour. In 2020, a judge dropped Franklin, Penn State and the administrators from the suit because Lynch filed it after a Pennsylvania deadline for whistleblower suits.
The suit was scheduled to go to trial in March, but a judge declared a mistral and set a new trial date for May. Despite no longer being a plaintiff in the suit, Franklin and Penn State football were central subjects of the trial. In his 2019 filing, Lynch alleged that he was relieved from his roles after reporting "Franklin's attempts to influence and interfere with the plaintiff's medical management and return-to-play decisions related to student-athletes." Trial testimony repeated the allegations.
In a 2019 statement, Lynch said he filed the suit "with significant concern for the safety of the college athlete…" Lynch remains employed at Penn State Health as an orthopedic surgeon and director of sports medicine.
"Please take note that, prior to filing this lawsuit, I lodged informal complaints with The Hershey Medical Center and the Integrity Officer at PSU Athletics that the autonomy of medical providers was being challenged, and presented recommendations to manage the concern," Lynch said in the statement. "The recommendations presented, if implemented, I believe would make great strides in ensuring medical autonomy and the protection of the student athlete.
"To my disappointment, my recommendations have not been embraced. It is my understanding, that
since being removed from my position with Penn State athletics in retaliation of and as a result of my complaints, my concerns have been investigated by the Integrity Office at PSU Athletics. Unfortunately, the results of the investigation remain unpublished and have been withheld from me. It is my hope that this civil action will serve to perfect the change that my informal efforts were unable to accomplish.”
According to Pennlive, Lynch's attorney Steven Marino told the jury in closing arguments that “Dr. Lynch wouldn’t relent. He would not let Coach Franklin interfere with his medical autonomy." In the defense's closing argument, attorney Sarah Bouchard said that Lynch, who worked in Hershey while serving as the team doctor, was not available full-time in State College and therefore wasn't "all-in" for the job. In 2019, Penn State University asked for the suit to be dismissed and said Lynch was a "disgruntled" former team doctor.
“Notwithstanding the unwavering commitment to student-athlete welfare and safety demonstrated for decades by the University, Ms. Barbour, Ms. [Charmelle] Green [former senior associate athletic director] and Coach Franklin, the Plaintiff in this lawsuit — disgruntled because he was removed from his assignment as the Football Team Orthopedic Physician and Director of Sports Medicine — has directly called into question the reputations built by those defendants," Penn State said in its 2019 response to Lynch's suit. "The University Defendants reject the Plaintiff’s attempt to denigrate decades of exemplary commitment to the University’s student-athletes and are prepared to defend against his claims.”
AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich.
MARK WOGENRICH
Mark Wogenrich is Editor and Publisher of AllPennState, the site for Penn State news on SI's FanNation Network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs and three Rose Bowls.
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