On February 15, 2015, Hanna Fallon was injured at a cheerleading competition. Now she is suing the Coronado Unified School District (CUSD), Fullout Cheer Company, and the cheer team’s former coach Joyce Winter.
During the warm-up, Fallon injured her ankle, and fell to the floor in tears, according to a complaint filed by her attorney Azar M. Khazian in Superior Court on March 11, 2016.
The complaint alleges that her coach, Joyce Winter, “instead of seeking first aid or medical attention for [Fallon’s] obvious injury, instructed [her] to continue.”
Winter told Fallon “to walk through the moves… which further aggravated the injury.” Winter next insisted that Fallon perform the pyramid stunts, because the team “needed her.” These stunts involved “running, lifting and throwing other people into the air.”
“In doing so [Fallon] was severely injured and continues to suffer from the injury to this day,” the complaint further alleges. “In pushing [Fallon] to compete despite her injuries and complaints, the defendants breached their duties to [Fallon] to avoid increasing inherent risks and should be held accountable.”
The complaint accuses Winter and CUSD with gross negligence for “failing to exercise ordinary care and due diligence.” Fallon’s attorney also charges that Winter and CUSD “ignored their responsibilities [and] jeopardized [her] health and well-being, increased her risk to harm and caused her to suffer greater injury.”
Fallon is asking for damages for “reasonable and necessary medical expenses.” The amount of damages were not specified in the complaint. Calls to Khazian about this and other aspects of the case were not returned. Emails and Facebook messenger requests to Fallon were not returned either.
Winter did not respond to an email request for comments and clarification. According to her LinkedIn page, Winter worked for Fullout Cheer until 2015. At last year’s Fullout Cheer competition, Coronado High School took first place in the Co-Ed Advanced Varsity Division (Fallon was a member of that squad). Winter was the competition choreographer and head coach for CHS’s varsity and Junior Varsity teams.
In November 2015, after over 2 years, Winter and CHS parted ways, according to her LinkedIn page. Winter now lives in Florida.
Sam Sherman who represents CUSD could not confirm whether or not the district employed Winter at the time of the accident. “I just got the retainer and I’m not in a position to comment on the case,” he said.
The full complaint can be read here.
More information will be added as story develops and as information is made public.
