Bobby Clark settlement approved

SANDPOINT — The West Bonner County School District’s insurer is paying $90,000 to create a special needs trust for a Priest River Lamanna High School football player who was injured on the gridiron in 2013.

Judge Barbara Buchanan approved the mediated settlement agreement in 1st District Court on Wednesday, court records show. The agreement further stipulates that attorneys fees, mediation and court costs will not be paid from the trust that benefits Robert “Bobby” Norman Clark III, who was permanently disabled by a concussion injury in a game against Timberlake. Clark was a varsity offensive and defensive lineman.

Clark was briefly removed from the game after an injury, but was sent back onto the field, according to a lawsuit filed by Clark’s parents, Robert II and Julie Clark. Their son collapsed after returning to the sideline, the suit said.

In addition to damages from the school district, the suit sought damages from several sporting goods manufacturers, although the companies were dismissed as plaintiffs as the suit wended its way through district court, documents show.

Counsel for the district and Clark advised the court in September that an agreement had been reached to resolve the suit without further proceedings.

Court documents indicate finalization of the mediated agreement was slowed by the matter of subrogation claims raised by Medicare and Medicaid. One of Clark’s attorneys, Todd Reed, advised the court that those claims have been waived.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.