Illinois High School Students Mount Class Action Lawsuit to Play Fall Sports

We mentioned last week that Illinois high school students and parents held a protest in Chicago for the reinstatement of fall sports. There has also been a protest outside Illinois governor JB Pritzker's mansion. The protest did not make any headway, so now a class action lawsuit is getting filed against the Illinois High School Association (IHSA).

According to WGN, the lawsuit alleges that students are suffering financial hardships and mental health issues from the shutdown, that the postponement of fall sports violates the IHSA bylaws, and that there should have been a vote of members. It is possible that the case will go before a judge as early as Wednesday.

Per the Kankakee Daily News, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit will seek a temporary restraining order against the state's cancellation of fall sports like football, volleyball, and soccer.

There are only 10 states left that have not reinstated fall sports, and Illinois is the only one of them in the midwest. Governor Pritzker has been resolute against bringing them back at this time, insisting that it is not safe.

Nonetheless, we did see with the Big Ten that lawsuits spur actions. While there were myriad other factors in the return to play, including involvement from President Trump and the federal government, the lawsuit from eight Nebraska players forced the conference to be transparent about their vote and there were also threats of lawsuits from the states of Nebraska and Ohio.