Liability, Lawsuits, and Baseline Tests: What Schools, Leagues, and Employers Need to Know

Baseline testing serves dual purposes: it’s a clinical tool for concussion management and a risk management instrument for organizational protection. Understanding both roles is important for administrators making budget decisions.

What courts look for

When a school, sports league, or employer is sued over a concussion-related injury, the central legal question is often: “Did this organization take reasonable steps to protect the individual?” A documented baseline testing program, combined with a written concussion protocol and trained staff, demonstrates institutional commitment to safety that courts and juries recognize. As noted in legal analyses published by sports law practitioners, proactive concussion management programs can constitute evidence of reasonable care.

The negligence risk of inaction

Conversely, organizations that are aware of concussion risks — as all schools and sports organizations now should be, given two decades of widespread media coverage and legislative action — but fail to implement any preventive measures may face claims of negligence, particularly if they had the resources and opportunity to implement testing and chose not to. Legal precedents in youth sports concussion litigation, including cases cited in the Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport, have increasingly held organizations to a standard of knowledge that includes current best practices in concussion management.

Documentation for disputed claims

Baseline testing also creates documentation that supports the organization in the event of a disputed claim. If an athlete or worker alleges that a concussion was mismanaged, baseline data demonstrating that the organization followed a systematic, evidence-based protocol — including pre-injury assessment, post-injury comparison, and graduated return — provides a defensible record of appropriate care.

How we support compliance and defensibility

At Headquarters, we help schools, leagues, and employers implement baseline programs that meet both clinical best practices and risk management standards. Our programs include standardized administration protocols, consent forms, HIPAA/FERPA-compliant data storage, and reporting frameworks that support organizational compliance and legal defensibility. For the workplace context specifically, see our workers’ comp piece.

Frequently asked questions