Onyshkos’ attorney asks jury to award $9.6 million in action against NCAA
Matthew Onyshko and his wife, Jessica, who filed a complaint claiming a sports governing body failed to warn him of the dangers of playing college football, are seeking more than $9.6 million, according his attorney’s closing argument Wednesday in Washington County Court.
Onyshko, now 38, was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2008, five years after graduating from California University of Pennsylvania with a degree in public relations.
He later became a firefighter in Pittsburgh, where he resides, but has since lost the use of his voice and moves with the assistance of a motorized wheelchair.
In an approximately two-hour closing argument, the legal team of the National Collegiate Athletic Association attorney Arthur W. Hankin of Philadelphia many times projected onto screens throughout the courtroom the message, “Relevant time period = 1999-2003.”
It referred to Onyshko’s years practicing and playing football at Cal U.
“You’re being asked to decide during that relevant time period, even though it is not known today, what the cause of ALS is,” he said.
Onyshko, using a computer-generated voice device he guides through eye movement, testified earlier this month he was afflicted with at least 20 concussions related to college football.
The NCAA attorney pointed out Onyshko was never medically diagnosed with a concussion at the university, nor did he stagger from the field or have glassy eyes, which would have alerted a trainer his health was in jeopardy.
“If he doesn’t demonstrate the symptoms, the trainers can’t treat him. How was he supposed to have been treated or evaluated at the game if he doesn’t tell someone?” the NCAA attorney asked.
Hankin said of the plaintiffs, “They spent most of their case dealing with what happened after 2003.”
Hankin also highlighted articles, several of them calling for further study, and fact sheets that describe the cause of ALS as unknown.
“That we intended to hurt Matt Onyshko, nothing could be further from the truth,” Hankin said in regard to the potential for any punitive damages, which could be awarded if the NCAA were found to have acted intentionally, outrageously, willfully, wantonly or recklessly.
Jurors must decide several questions, including whether the NCAA was negligent and if football caused harm to Matthew Onyshko.
Houston, Texas, attorney Eugene Egdorf, in outlining a request for compensatory damages, covered Onyshko’s past and future medical expenses, changes made to their home, past and future lost earnings, past and future noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering, and, on behalf of his wife, Jessica Onyshko, loss of consortium, in reaching the $9 million-plus figure.
Although the final issue on which the jury reaches a verdict addresses whether the conduct of the NCAA was “outrageous,” their duties stop short of awarding punitive damages.
“It’s up to you in your hearts and minds to decide what’s fair,” Egdorf said.”A verdict for Matt and Jess will tell the NCAA it needs to change.”
He and co-counsel Justin Shrader pointed to the testimony of their expert witnesses, Dr. Julie Schwartzbard, Dr. Bennet Omalu and Dr. Robert Cantu, who tied football’s repetitive hits to the development of neurological disease.
“It’s unequivocal,” Shrader said. “The science has spoken on this issue.”
Studies on the topic of sport and head trauma had been going on for years, Onyshko’s attorneys maintained, but the NCAA, which has as its mission protection of student athletes, did not share the information with their client.
Matthew Onyshko did not connect his playing days with ALS until he saw a televised interview with a former National Football League player in 2012.
“The NCAA makes all the rules,” Egdorf told the jury. “They govern these kids’ lives. They decided everything until they walked into the courtroom and said, ‘It ain’t us.'”
Striding toward his client, who was seated in his wheelchair, Egdorf asked, “Does anybody really question the credibility of Matt Onyshko?”
Of the NCAA, he queried, “Were they really trying to keep him safe?” and recalled the testimony of Cedric Dempsey, former NCAA executive director from 1994 to 2002, in a video deposition.
“It’s the responsibility of the association to educate its members,” Dempsey testified.
Testimony, which began May 3, ended Monday and jurors had a day off Tuesday for Pennsylvania’s primary election.
Jurors were ushered into the courtroom at 4 p.m. so Judge Michael Lucas could instruct them on how to apply the law during their deliberations. The jury ended deliberations at 9 p.m. Wednesday and will resume at 9:30 a.m. today.