One of the athletes in Stanford’s NCAA volleyball program claims she was not provided proper medical care in a traumatic brain injury lawsuit.

The Case: Hayley Hodson v. Stanford University, NCAA, etc.

The Court: Los Angeles County Superior Court of the State of California

The Case No.: 22STCV36533

The Plaintiff: Hayley Hodson v. Stanford University, NCAA, etc.

The plaintiff in the case, Hayley Hodson, was the star player for Stanford’s women’s volleyball team in 2015. Hodson claims that as a result of Stanford’s actions and lack of action, she sustained brain injuries that affected her game on the volleyball court and her day-to-day life off the court.

The Defendant: Hayley Hodson v. Stanford University, NCAA, etc.

The defendants in the case are mainly Stanford University and NCAA. Stanford University ran an NCAA volleyball program in which the plaintiff was a star player in 2015. The NCAA, or National Collegiate Athletic Association, is an unincorporated association of private and public colleges and universities designed to govern collegiate athletics.

The Case: Hayley Hodson v. Stanford University

In 2015, Hodson allegedly showed signs of a brain injury following a forceful hit to the head during a Stanford women’s volleyball team practice. Hodson described her symptoms as migraines, changes in vision, exhaustion, mood swings, and fatigue, all brain injury symptoms. Stanford coaches and trainers were present at the time of the injury. They allegedly failed to provide necessary treatment, leaving Hodson to cope with untreated brain injuries for a significant amount of time. Instead, Hodson was instructed to continue performing in multiple drills and to play in a tournament (just two days after the initial injury). Coaching staff insisted she continues training and even took a flight to attend a game (exposing her untreated brain injury to a pressurized cabin in-flight). Hodson sustained a second injury during a game within two weeks of the initial injury. She wasn’t even pulled from the game to be checked by the team trainers. She barely remembers the rest of the match and states that it was the last time she played well. Following that season’s final loss, Hodson’s health spiraled; her ability to perform athletically failed, she couldn’t sleep, she lost her appetite, she couldn’t study or seem to learn anything new, and she had anxiety about being alone. After years of suffering and struggling, physicians diagnosed Hodson with post-concussion syndrome. In addition to damages for pain, suffering, and lost volleyball income, Hodson’s lawsuit seeks to require the NCAA to include brain injury warning labels on volleyballs; train college coaches and trainers to identify and provide appropriate treatment for brain injuries; and monitor and discipline any coaches or athletic trainers who fail to do so.

If you have questions about how to file a California traumatic brain injury lawsuit, please get in touch with Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Experienced traumatic brain injury attorneys are ready to assist you in various law firm offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Chicago.