Appeals court overturns $4.3M award to ex-inmate
Associated Press
MANSFIELD
An appeals court has reversed the decision to award $4.3 million to a former Ohio inmate who was paralyzed during a flag football game at a Mansfield prison.
Eric Schnetz suffered a broken neck and lost the use of his arms and legs after a tackle during the 2004 game, an annual Thanksgiving Day contest between inmates living in dormitories at the Mansfield Correctional Camp, according to court documents. The camp is a minimum- security facility that’s part of the prison.
The case went to the Ohio Court of Claims, and a judge in September ordered the state to pay Schnetz $4.3 million in damages and pay $80,000 to his three children. The court determined that Schnetz and the children were eligible for twice as much, but the judge cut the awards in half based on a previous ruling that responsibility for the injury was split between Schnetz and the Ohio prison system.
The state appealed, arguing there was no intentional or reckless negligence and it was wrong for the court to hold the prison system responsible even though Schnetz voluntarily played in a game he knew was against prison rules, which allowed only flag football without full contact and tackling, The Mansfield News Journal reported.
An Ohio appeals court sided with the state this month and reversed the lower court decision.