Why is Georgia & Jalen Carter being sued by former staffer? Exploring the latest ramifications regarding the former Bulldog and the school scandal
Philadelphia Eagles rookie Jalen Carter and the UGA Athletic Association are being sued by Victoria Bowles. She survived the fatal car crash that killed a Georgia football player and recruiting staffer on Jan. 15, who was racing Carter before crashing.
The lawsuit was filed in state court on Wednesday in Gwinnett County by Bowles. It accuses the UGA athletic department of negligence and contradicts the public statements that coach Kirby Smart and other officials made. They claimed that recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy should not have been driving the SUV.
However, the lawsuit claims that this was not the case.
"On the evening of the Championship Celebration, LeCroy told Ms. Bowles that she (LeCroy) had 'permission' to keep the SUV 'until tomorrow.'uNumerous text messages from recruiting staff supervisors to LeCroy, Ms. Bowles and other staff members show the Association's statement is false.
"Recruiting staff were regularly informed they could leave their personal vehicles overnight at the Butts-Mehre football facility and permissively use Assocation rental vehicles through a specified cut-off date and time, unrelated to their assigned recruiting activity duti.
Even with LeCroy having more than 2.5 times over the legal limit of alcohol in her system, that was not what caused the death, and UGA Athletic Association could be at fault for having the knowledge that she was a habitual speeder, according to the lawsuit.
"While LeCroy may have been legally intoxicated, the proximate cause of the crash was street racing and extreme speed. The Association's negligent entrustment of the large rental SUV to LeCroy, with knowledge that she was a reckless and habitual speeder
The Georgia Athletic Association disputed the claims in its response.
How will this affect Jalen Carter?
Jalen Carter is no longer with the Georgia Bulldogs and was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft.
Carter pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing on March 15. As a result, he was sentenced to 12 months of probation, 80 hours of community service, $1,000 fine and a state-approved self-defensive driving course.
In terms of his career, the only way Jalen Carter gets seriously affected is if he is forced to miss games. In the world of sports, a player of Carter's caliber can make these kinds of mistakes and bounce back. The Eagles knew this was a possibility when selecting him as he left the NFL draft combine to deal with issues related to the accident.
Ultimately, it feels like Carter's portion of this will not play a huge factor in his career going forward.