Court Upholds Right of Towson to Keep Player Off Team

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has upheld the right of Towson University to keep off the football team an athlete who nearly died when on the team two years ago, The Baltimore Sun reported. Gavin Class was on the team when he collapsed. While Class was suffering from extremely high temperature, his heart briefly stopped and his liver failed. He has since restored his health and wants to return to the football team, with support from his medical team. But Towson's medical team maintains that he remains too high a risk, and that the university is not equipped to provide the monitoring needed to assure his safety.

A lower court gave Class the right to return to the team. But the appeals court said, “Giving deference to Towson University’s judgment, as we are required to do, we uphold its determination.”