SHU two weeks ago filed a motion for summary judgment—i.e., a paper saying the undisputed facts merit dismissal of the lawsuit. I don’t know how to upload it but some interesting tidbits, including that Powell earns more than $1M annually in Chinese Basketball Association and that some of the allegations in lawsuits were (as SHU would have it) straight up false and/or misleading. E.g., Powell alleges that Testa gave him pain meds when in fact Powell conceded at deposition he received injections only from a pain management doctor.
Powell Lawsuit Update
- Thread starter MichiganStoleTitle
- Start date
Friday, May 16, 2025
utility Set/Reset Motion and R&R Deadlines/Hearings Fri 05/16 10:43 AM
Set Deadlines as to90 MOTION for Summary Judgment. Motion set for 6/16/2025 before Judge William J. Martini. Unless otherwise directed by the Court, this motion will be decided on the papers and no appearances are required. Note that this is an automatically generated message from the Clerk`s Office and does not supersede any previous or subsequent orders from the Court. (sm)
utility Set/Reset Motion and R&R Deadlines/Hearings Fri 05/16 10:43 AM
Set Deadlines as to90 MOTION for Summary Judgment. Motion set for 6/16/2025 before Judge William J. Martini. Unless otherwise directed by the Court, this motion will be decided on the papers and no appearances are required. Note that this is an automatically generated message from the Clerk`s Office and does not supersede any previous or subsequent orders from the Court. (sm)
Powell v. SETON HALL UNIVERSITY et al (2:21-cv-13709), New Jersey District Court
Powell v. SETON HALL UNIVERSITY et al (2:21-cv-13709), New Jersey District Court, Filed: 07/15/2021
www.pacermonitor.com
A summary judgment can be issued by plaintiff and defendant and judge determines how much of each would be approved from the bench or a trial can still happen
Thanks but I have no access to that.Powell v. SETON HALL UNIVERSITY et al (2:21-cv-13709), New Jersey District Court
Powell v. SETON HALL UNIVERSITY et al (2:21-cv-13709), New Jersey District Court, Filed: 07/15/2021
The lawsuit trifecta! What a time for The Hall.
A pathetic money grab more than willing to crap all over other people’s professional reputations ruined such a storied legacy. Terrible.
A pathetic money grab more than willing to crap all over other people’s professional reputations ruined such a storied legacy. Terrible.
Create an account on PACER. You can find case and download this filing. There is a nominally a charge associated with that, but as long as you incur fewer than $30 in fees for the quarter—and it shouldn’t cost more than that to simply view the docket and download this one brief—it should ultimately be waived.
Public Access to Court Electronic Records | PACER: Federal Court Records
PACER provides information about accessing and filing federal court records electronically. Find resources for using PACER.
pacer.uscourts.gov
It’s funny how it seemed the Powell era would surely be a bridge back to national prominence - remember the hype leading up to the msu game? Now it looks like nothing could be further from the truth. Wherever on the spectrum between love and hate one’s feelings my lie towards Cheese, those were undeniably fun times, and a world of difference from what we’re facing now.
SHU basketball has never been like that, going back to the 1940s. Down is up, and up is down. Just have to have faith in the next up.
ok I signed up for a PACER account to download the brief. I'll put a brief summary here.
At the heart of this seems to be Powell's injury of a torn lateral meniscus. Did it happen on Seton Hall's watch and were they negligent in caring for it? The timeline summarizes:
There was a Jan 13, 2020 text from team trainer Testa to Powell suspecting he might have a torn meniscus, and referring him to the team doctor / orthopedic surgeon (Festa). The doctor examines Myles the next day and diagnoses a patella tendonitis. Then on Feb 17, Powell complains to Testa about his knee again. The next day, Myles sees Festa, who diagnoses him again with patella tendonitis (but orders no MRI either time). Once the season finally ends (March 13), Myles gets an MRI from Festa and he's diagnosed with chondromalacia (aka "runner's knee"... ie- not a torn meniscus).
Then, in June 2020, Myles' new doctor takes an MRI and he's shown with a torn lateral meniscus. Uh-oh.
The crazy part of this lawsuit is that the team doctor is not a defendant here. But the athletic trainer is... The very same trainer who referred Myles to the doctor right away every time he complained of a knee issue.
"Plaintiffs assert no claims of malpractice against the physicians actively involved in their care, and Plaintiffs’ athletic training expert could find no criticism of the “care” offered by the Seton Hall Defendants to Powell or Smith, suggesting merely that the 'recordkeeping could have been more robust.' "
"Plaintiffs completely ignore that their trainers promptly referred them to licensed physicians when they reported their respective knee injuries to the Seton Hall Defendants. Plaintiffs bring no claims of negligence against these physicians for their care and treatment of Plaintiffs and instead allege that athletic trainers were somehow negligent for not “diagnosing” the injuries for which Plaintiffs were promptly referred to physicians."
"Plaintiffs’ gross negligence claims hinge on allegations that permitting continued basketball play of Powell and Smith, where Plaintiffs were not otherwise restricted by a licensed physician, was somehow 'gross negligence.'"
There's also a funny section where the SHU lawyers note, "Shockingly, Powell’s allegation relate to the 2019-2020 men’s basketball season" and then go on to list all his accolades and accomplishments from that year. Clearly a kid who was unfit to play sports, right?
Also, Kevin Willard was dropped as a defendant on Feb 11, 2024. I didn't know that, either.
At the heart of this seems to be Powell's injury of a torn lateral meniscus. Did it happen on Seton Hall's watch and were they negligent in caring for it? The timeline summarizes:
There was a Jan 13, 2020 text from team trainer Testa to Powell suspecting he might have a torn meniscus, and referring him to the team doctor / orthopedic surgeon (Festa). The doctor examines Myles the next day and diagnoses a patella tendonitis. Then on Feb 17, Powell complains to Testa about his knee again. The next day, Myles sees Festa, who diagnoses him again with patella tendonitis (but orders no MRI either time). Once the season finally ends (March 13), Myles gets an MRI from Festa and he's diagnosed with chondromalacia (aka "runner's knee"... ie- not a torn meniscus).
Then, in June 2020, Myles' new doctor takes an MRI and he's shown with a torn lateral meniscus. Uh-oh.
The crazy part of this lawsuit is that the team doctor is not a defendant here. But the athletic trainer is... The very same trainer who referred Myles to the doctor right away every time he complained of a knee issue.
"Plaintiffs assert no claims of malpractice against the physicians actively involved in their care, and Plaintiffs’ athletic training expert could find no criticism of the “care” offered by the Seton Hall Defendants to Powell or Smith, suggesting merely that the 'recordkeeping could have been more robust.' "
"Plaintiffs completely ignore that their trainers promptly referred them to licensed physicians when they reported their respective knee injuries to the Seton Hall Defendants. Plaintiffs bring no claims of negligence against these physicians for their care and treatment of Plaintiffs and instead allege that athletic trainers were somehow negligent for not “diagnosing” the injuries for which Plaintiffs were promptly referred to physicians."
"Plaintiffs’ gross negligence claims hinge on allegations that permitting continued basketball play of Powell and Smith, where Plaintiffs were not otherwise restricted by a licensed physician, was somehow 'gross negligence.'"
There's also a funny section where the SHU lawyers note, "Shockingly, Powell’s allegation relate to the 2019-2020 men’s basketball season" and then go on to list all his accolades and accomplishments from that year. Clearly a kid who was unfit to play sports, right?
Also, Kevin Willard was dropped as a defendant on Feb 11, 2024. I didn't know that, either.
Read the response from Powell's lawyer. The most interesting stuff:
Powell and teammates did not realize Testa was not an actual doctor. It's mentioned how they referred to him casually as "doc," and Testa never corrected them. This caused confusion on who was his actual physician.
There's a lot of repeating that Powell was told by Testa that he had a "bone bruise" and not a torn meniscus. But there's also not much evidence, as Testa appears to not have kept any notes at all, which doesn't come across well on his end. Testa should be keeping better work records. And the lack of an MRI ordered until one day after the season ended was also very suspect.
This section was... weird:
After the examination, Mr. Testa told Mr. Powell that all he had was a bone bruise and he could continue to play on it. At his deposition, however, Mr. Testa testified that he believed at the time that Mr. Powell had a lateral meniscus tear based on his learned assessment.
Accordingly, Mr. Testa then sent a text message he intended for Dr. Anthony Festa, an orthopedic surgeon with the title “Seton Hall Team Physician,” but mistakenly sent to Mr. Powell, stating “[y]a Myles Powell has a lateral meniscus tear.” When Mr. Powell questioned Mr. Testa about the text message, Mr. Testa stated it was a mistake and Mr. Powell only had a bone bruise.
So basically Myles is alleging that the team trainer and doctor were secretly keeping medical information from him, and purposely delaying his MRI until after the season. Again though, as the SHU lawyers noted in their filing a few weeks ago, Powell is only suing the team trainer and not the team doctor / orthopedic surgeon. THAT'S the person with the expertise who would be able to properly diagnose him.
Also, as a pet peeve, I hate when lawyers just put stuff like this in writing as if it were pure fact:
Such a standout college career capped by such a successful senior year, even on an injured knee, should have guaranteed Mr. Powell to be selected in the NBA Draft, but the professionals connected to the various teams in the NBA had suspected or discovered that Mr. Powell had a serious injury to his right knee that had gone untreated. In light of Mr. Powell’s medical condition, no NBA team drafted Mr. Powell and he lost an entire year of a professional salary, either here or overseas.
Overall, Testa comes across looking like a total amateur... misjudging the seriousness of an injury, not keeping proper records, accidentally texting medical information to the wrong recipient... yeesh. Now I don't personally think that constitutes gross negligence like Powell's brief argues. However, it certainly also doesn't show diligence or competence.
Powell and teammates did not realize Testa was not an actual doctor. It's mentioned how they referred to him casually as "doc," and Testa never corrected them. This caused confusion on who was his actual physician.
There's a lot of repeating that Powell was told by Testa that he had a "bone bruise" and not a torn meniscus. But there's also not much evidence, as Testa appears to not have kept any notes at all, which doesn't come across well on his end. Testa should be keeping better work records. And the lack of an MRI ordered until one day after the season ended was also very suspect.
This section was... weird:
After the examination, Mr. Testa told Mr. Powell that all he had was a bone bruise and he could continue to play on it. At his deposition, however, Mr. Testa testified that he believed at the time that Mr. Powell had a lateral meniscus tear based on his learned assessment.
Accordingly, Mr. Testa then sent a text message he intended for Dr. Anthony Festa, an orthopedic surgeon with the title “Seton Hall Team Physician,” but mistakenly sent to Mr. Powell, stating “[y]a Myles Powell has a lateral meniscus tear.” When Mr. Powell questioned Mr. Testa about the text message, Mr. Testa stated it was a mistake and Mr. Powell only had a bone bruise.
So basically Myles is alleging that the team trainer and doctor were secretly keeping medical information from him, and purposely delaying his MRI until after the season. Again though, as the SHU lawyers noted in their filing a few weeks ago, Powell is only suing the team trainer and not the team doctor / orthopedic surgeon. THAT'S the person with the expertise who would be able to properly diagnose him.
Also, as a pet peeve, I hate when lawyers just put stuff like this in writing as if it were pure fact:
Such a standout college career capped by such a successful senior year, even on an injured knee, should have guaranteed Mr. Powell to be selected in the NBA Draft, but the professionals connected to the various teams in the NBA had suspected or discovered that Mr. Powell had a serious injury to his right knee that had gone untreated. In light of Mr. Powell’s medical condition, no NBA team drafted Mr. Powell and he lost an entire year of a professional salary, either here or overseas.
Overall, Testa comes across looking like a total amateur... misjudging the seriousness of an injury, not keeping proper records, accidentally texting medical information to the wrong recipient... yeesh. Now I don't personally think that constitutes gross negligence like Powell's brief argues. However, it certainly also doesn't show diligence or competence.
It's the attorney's job to make Testa look like a total amateur since he is the one that Powell is suing. As you said, "I hate when lawyers just put stuff like this in writing as if it were pure fact".
Agree Burnsly, but sending an e mail to Myles instead of team Physician stating torn meniscus seems like a fact easily proven.
Seems like a University/Athletic Department has little choice but to litigate since it would open to doors to who knows what from a legal liability for past and future players. Is it clear how much Powell is trying to sue for? I forget if that amount was released when the suit was originally filed.
