Attorney says Georgia charitable immunity law could play role in UGA lawsuit

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) -A new lawsuit filed by Devin Willocks’s family claims UGA Athletic Association employees Anna Courson, Logen Reed and Bryant Gant negligently hired Chandler Lecroy to drive members of the UGA football team in January.

“The question is whether or not immunity is going to apply to those people.” Atlanta Attorney Tom Church said.

RELATED: Family files $40 million lawsuit in crash that killed UGA player, staffer.

Church told Atlanta News First that under Georgia’s charitable immunity law, employees of charitable institutions like the UGA Athletic Association usually can’t be sued as long as they’re performing their duties without misconduct.

However, the suit claims all three employees of the athletic association displayed misconduct when they hired, trained, supervised and ultimately gave Lecroy the keys to the car.

“The claim against the association is really based on the theory that these employees of the association, the supervisors for Lecroy, knew about her history of driving recklessly or getting speeding tickets and still entrusted her with the keys to this car,” Church said, in reference to the suit.

UGA responded to the newly filed 40 million dollar lawsuit on Wednesday saying,

“The attorneys who filed the Complaint have refused to provide any factual basis for their claims against the Athletic Association, and we believe the evidence will prove them to be without merit. We intend to strongly dispute these baseless allegations in Court.”--UGA Athletic Association

Several other parties are targeted in the suit including LeCroy and her estate, Toppers International, Jalen Carter, and multiple liability companies.

Copyright 2023 WANF. All rights reserved.