Searchable Athletics Case Library
Access a growing, searchable collection of Canadian cases involving athletes, coaches, athletics programs and sport organizations.
Athletics Membership
Ongoing Legal Insight for the Canadian Athletics Community
Access a growing, searchable collection of Canadian cases examining legal responsibilities, organizational and institutional decisions, and emerging issues affecting athletes, coaches and athletics organizations.
Searchable Canadian case library
Primary (K-12) & Post-Secondary coverage
New Canadian case analysis monthly
Published by Pendulum Law Ltd., a Canadian publisher of preventive education-law information.
Why This Membership Matters
Athletics Decisions Can Raise Important Legal and Organizational Questions
Decisions involving athlete participation, safety, accommodation, coaching conduct and organizational responsibilities can raise questions that reach beyond the playing field.
Pendulum Law brings together Canadian cases involving schools, post-secondary institutions and athletics organizations to help you understand the issues and consider their implications for your own work.
Recognize
Recognize Issues Earlier
Learn how athletics decisions can raise questions involving human rights, safety, privacy, professional conduct and other areas of law.
Learn
Learn From Canadian Cases
Explore decisions involving schools, post-secondary institutions and athletics organizations, along with their practical implications.
Apply
Bring Insight Into Practice
Use case insights to prompt discussion, consider your organization’s policies and ask informed questions when similar issues arise.
Areas of Coverage
- Athlete Conduct
- Coach Conduct
- Criminal Law
- Defamation
- Employment
- Families
- Human Rights
- Insurance
- Litigation
- Privacy
- Professional Conduct
- Social Media
- Workers’ Compensation
Designed For
- School and school-district or division leaders
- University and college administrators
- Athletic directors and department administrators
- Student affairs and student-conduct professionals
- Coaches and coach-development leaders
- Sport clubs and athletics organizations
- Risk-management, human-resources and legal personnel
- Athletic associations, conferences and governing organizations
From Case to Practice
When a Scheduling Decision Affects an Athlete’s Participation
An Ontario case considered a human rights complaint involving an athlete with an intellectual disability after a scheduling conflict affected participation. The complaint was unsuccessful, but the case provides an opportunity to consider how athletics organizations respond to participation and accommodation concerns.
Consider with your team:
- How does our organization manage scheduling decisions impacting athlete participation?
- Who should be involved when accommodation decisions arise?
- Are processes clear to coaches, athletes and families?
Put the insight into practice: Use the case to start a conversation about your organization’s approach to participation concerns and whether its processes are clear to athletes, families and staff.
Explore this case and its practical implications through the Athletics Membership.
Membership Access
What Your Athletics Membership Includes
Focused case insight, practical analysis and secure online access, organized for professionals responsible for athletics.
Ongoing Case Coverage
Receive new athletics-related case analyses and important case developments throughout your annual membership.
Practical Implications
Go beyond the outcome to consider what each decision may mean for institutional practices, policies, documentation and decision-making.
Cross-Sector Perspective
Review relevant developments arising in both Primary (K–12) and post-secondary education through one focused membership.
Athletes Special Issue
Find Pendulum Law’s foundational Athletes Special Issue within the portal alongside the growing collection of individual cases.
Secure Online Access
Use your personal portal login to search, review and return to the material throughout your membership year.
One focused membership. Relevant athletics cases from across both education sectors, brought together in a searchable online collection.
MORE CASES AVAILABLE WITH MEMBERSHIP
Additional Canadian Athletics Cases Available with Membership
The Athletics Membership includes additional Canadian case analyses beyond those featured in the Special Issue: Student Athletes. Explore examples from the growing collection below.
Failure to Accommodate Athlete Scheduling Conflict Is Not Discrimination
An Ontario tribunal considered whether an athletics association was required to accommodate a scheduling conflict affecting an athlete with an intellectual disability.
Available with Membership
High-Performance Student Athlete Is an Insured Person Under Sister’s Policy
An Ontario tribunal examined dependency and insurance coverage for a student athlete living away from home for training and education.
Available with Membership
Professional Misconduct: Teacher Sanctioned for Breach of Social Media Policy
An educator responsible for an athletic team was sanctioned for breaching social media policy. The case highlights the importance of approved communication channels, clear professional boundaries and careful oversight of team-related social media accounts.
Available with Membership
Volleyball Coach Entitled to Balance of Fixed-Term Contract
A New Brunswick court considered a university’s obligations after terminating a coach before the end of a fixed-term agreement.
Available with Membership
Longstanding Football Coach Convicted of Sexual Crimes Against Student Athletes
A Manitoba court addressed criminal conduct, abuse of trust and the lasting effects of offences involving student athletes.
Available with Membership
Aggressive Student-Athlete Conduct Is the Predominant Cause of Teacher’s Health Crisis
A workers’ compensation proceeding considered the connection between repeated aggressive conduct and a teacher’s psychological injury.
Available with Membership