On April 20, 2021, HSPRD filed a lawsuit on behalf of Morgan Urso, a LaGrange teen who was banned from her hockey team after sharing her mental health struggle with her coach. HSPRD partner, Charlie Wysong, is the lead attorney representing the Urso’s against Team Illinois Hocky Club, Inc. and the Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois, Inc. (AHAI). The case has received press coverage and was featured on ABC7 news.
Urso seeks injunctive relief and damages to protect other youth hockey players throughout Illinois from discrimination based on their mental health conditions. Urso sues under the Illinois Human Rights Act for disability discrimination based on her depression and anxiety that she faced in 2019 when her hockey team barred her from participating indefinitely and without warning.
“No one going through a mental health issue should ever be called a burden, especially because mental health is something most people will struggle with at some point in their lives to some degree,” stated Morgan. “Though this experience has been hard, especially when I was removed from Team Illinois and felt my love for the game I had dedicated my life to fading, I feel strongly that I must speak out on this issue and normalize having conversations around mental health so that no other hockey players in Illinois will have to go through what I went through.”
“This is a cut and dry example of discrimination against a young woman with a disability. Team Illinois’ and AHAI’s uninformed and wrongheaded actions were laid out in the emails to families of Morgan’s teammates,” said attorney Charlie Wysong. “We hope that this suit will cause Team Illinois and AHAI to seriously reexamine how they support players with mental health conditions and draw greater awareness to how adults should approach the mental health of young people.”
Watch ABC7 News Report HERE.
Watch WGN News Report HERE.
Watch NBC5 News Report HERE.
See Full Complaint HERE.
