Paralyzed California Teen’s Pop Warner Suit Can Continue, Judge Says

A Los Angeles judge has refused to throw out a lawsuit by a teenager who was paralyzed while making a tackle during a Pop Warner football game.

City News Service says the judge on Wednesday rejected a motion to dismiss the negligence suit filed by Donnovan Hill and his mother.

The boy was 13 in 2011 when he fractured his spine during the Midget Orange Bowl championship game at Laguna Hills High School.

The suit argues that coaches knew players taught to make head-first tackles would get hurt. It names the national and local Pop Warner organization and the coaches.

Lawyers for the volunteer coaches and Lakewood Pop Warner contend that the coaches are immune from liability and the plaintiffs must show they were reckless.