Every so often a ridiculous lawsuit involving coaches, parents, and sometimes players seem to make headlines. Out in California, a recent lawsuit involves all three of those aforementioned parties.
According to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, 17-year old Robbie Lopez is suing his former high school head baseball coach at Los Altos HS (CA) for benching him during his senior year. The lawsuit, which is asking for $150,000 in damages, claims that the coach opting not to play Robbie displayed a pattern of "harassment and bullying."
“For over four (4) months and 14 games, (Robbie Lopez) has been benched and not the opportunity to show his offensive or defensive capabilities,” the lawsuit reads, according to the SGVT article.
(I know coaches will read that quote and say to themselves that practice is a perfect time to showcase those abilities, not just in games)
The first-year head coach and Robbie's father apparently had a few disagreements leading up to the season, and Mr. Lopez believes his son was punished because of those disagreements.
The lawyer representing the former player and his parents go on to note that benching Robbie was "an abuse of the coach's discretion."
As a profession, it's important to keep a tab on the pulse of what is going on around the country with situations like this, so we're all educated and aware on what could happen, in extreme cases.