Twelve San Angelo families have taken Texas Leadership Charter Academy to court, alleging that a late February punishment drill for student-athletes spiraled into a medical crisis that left dozens injured and up to 20 kids in the hospital with rhabdomyolysis. The suit, filed last Friday, claims the workout was punitive, dragged on for nearly a full class period, and was carried out without water or breaks. Parents also say school leaders treated the wave of hospitalizations as a public-relations issue instead of immediately informing families, and that several children are now dealing with long-term medical and emotional fallout.
What the families allege
According to a court filing and a statement from Cherry Johnson Siegmund James, the case was filed last Friday in the 193rd Judicial District Court of Dallas County under Cause No. DC-26-06347. “What happened here reflects a profound failure to protect student safety. It’s not discipline — it’s abuse,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys said. The complaint accuses TLCA, Texas Leadership Public Schools and several staff members of systemic child abuse, gross negligence and an institutional cover-up.
Alleged punishment in the gym
The lawsuit claims the trouble began on Feb. 25, when the head football coach ordered about 80 students to do continuous, whistle-driven push-ups for the entire class period, roughly 45 minutes or more, with no water, rest or breaks. Students say they were forced through an estimated 300 to 420 push-ups while multiple coaches moved among them, berating those who showed signs of slowing down. The suit also alleges the gym doors were closed during the drill, according to KWTX.
Medical fallout
In the days after the workout, as many as 20 students were hospitalized and diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, a potentially life-threatening breakdown of skeletal muscle that can lead to kidney failure, the filing states. Attorneys for the families cite hospital stays ranging from two to seven days, lab results for one child that were nearly 750 times the normal upper limit, and multiple referrals to nephrologists to evaluate possible permanent kidney damage, according to Cherry Johnson Siegmund James.
School response and staffing
On March 13, TLCA emailed parents to announce that its athletic director and head football coach were no longer with the organization, that three other coaches would stay on only in non-coaching roles, and that searches for replacements had begun. The message insisted that “the safety and well-being of our students remains our highest priority.” The lawsuit paints a very different picture, alleging that administrators quietly reassigned coaches, slipped new liability waivers into registration paperwork and told employees to delete potentially incriminating emails. The complaint also names several coaches and one administrator who were allegedly present during the workout, including Kent Sherrill, Bradley Oh, Stetson Emfinger, Emmanuel Serna, Brandon Richardson and assistant principal Robert Wray, as reported by the San Angelo Standard-Times.
Legal claims and next steps
The families are asking for at least $500,000 per student in damages, plus punitive damages, and allege willful misconduct and a coordinated cover-up by school leadership, according to reporting on the filing. Lawyers for the plaintiffs say they chose Dallas County because several defendants live there, and that multiple attempts to reach the school for comment have gone unanswered, per KWTX.
Why it matters in Texas
Rhabdomyolysis and mass hospitalizations linked to off-season or punitive workouts are not new to Texas. Similar incidents have already drawn lawsuits and state scrutiny, most notably the widely covered Rockwall-Heath case that brought in the Texas Education Agency in 2023. That history shows how quickly courts and regulators can step in when athletic programs cross the line from conditioning into outright harm, a pattern noted by The Dallas Morning News.
The TLCA case will move forward in Dallas County, with no public hearing date listed yet in the filing. Attorneys for the families say they plan to push for accountability as the students continue their medical treatment and recovery.
