Towson Football Player Sidelined During Discrimination Proceedings

A Towson student who filed a discrimination suit against the university for barring him from football due to a medical condition must stay on the sidelines a bit longer.

Gavin Class, 22, of Monkton, filed a complaint on May 28 alleging discrimination after Towson refused to let him play with the Towson Tigers, citing his health.

Class was practicing with the team in 2013 when he suffered from heat stroke and has been training to return to the field ever since.

On Tuesday, a panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit put a stay on a decision that Maryland District Judge Richard Bennett issued July 17 ordering the university to make accommodations so Class could play football.

The panel of three judges included two in favor and one who voted against putting a stay on the order Tuesday, according to court filings.

The football preseason at Towson University starts Aug. 1. On Tuesday afternoon, Class filed a motion to expedite the proceedings.

Initially, Class notified the university in March that he was requesting accommodations to return to the field, according to court filings.

Towson replied with a letter in May indicating that its team of MedStar sports medicine professionals “believe that the risk of serious injury or death as a result of another heatstroke is too great to clear Mr. Class to play,” court documents show.

The complaint Class filed in U.S. District Court accuses Towson of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, which require federal funding recipients to provide accommodations for those with medical conditions or disabilities.

On Aug. 12, 2013, Class collapsed from heat stroke during football practice at Towson’s Johnny Unitas Stadium, according to court filings, which stated the temperature was 91 degrees with a heat index of 102.

His body temperature was 108 degrees upon arrival at St. Joseph Medical Center and with his liver failing, he was taken to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he was in a coma for nine days and had 15 surgeries, including a liver transplant, according to court documents.

Class was released from the hospital by mid October 2013 and returned to Towson classes in January 2014, the documents state.

He currently has two physical impairments—a liver transplant and propensity for exertional heatstroke—according to his complaint.

The University of Maryland Medical Center’s liver transplant team wrote on behalf of Class that he is “at acceptable risk to play collegiate level football” given he wear “appropriate abdominal padding,” court filings show.

He was also given instructions to monitor his body temperature every 10 minutes using a device that gets an instant reading, which Class said he would purchase.

The Tigers begin preseason practice this week, and the first game of the season is Sept. 5.

The stay issued Tuesday remains in effect until further action by the U.S. Court of Appeals.