Lawsuit: Rockwall Heath coaches' workout sent cheerleader to hospital

A North Texas high school previously accused of causing student athletes to end up in the hospital after grueling workouts is once again facing similar allegations.

This time, the accusations involve Rockwall Heath High School's cheerleading squad.

A 15-page civil lawsuit filed in Rockwall County District Court claims a cheerleader and her Rockwall Heath High School squad endured grueling “physical exercise as punishment” in October 2024, ending with a cheerleader being hospitalized.

The punishment was allegedly handed down by three teachers who are now being sued for injuries allegedly caused by their negligence, according to attorney Michael Sawicki, who represents the cheerleader’s parents.

This case, he says, reflects a bigger problem involving the district: coaches assigning intense exercises that leave student athletes with a medical condition called rhabdomyolysis.

“I think it reflects that the district just doesn’t take this very seriously,” he said.

The alleged punishment handed down to the cheer squad in October of last year:

Fifty modified burpees in five minutes — “which is a push-up followed by a jump in the air and then back down to the ground, a push-up and jump up in the air,” explained Sawicki.

According to the attorney, despite his client being sick with a cold and having a doctor’s note, she felt pressured to power through.

The Rockwall Heath junior ended up in the hospital a week later and was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, he said.

According to the CDC, rhabdomyolysis is the breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue, which releases its contents into the bloodstream, which can damage the kidneys, potentially leading to kidney failure.

“There was pressure by the teachers that if you don’t perform you don’t get to go, you don’t get to participate in activities. You don’t get to be on the squad, and for young kids that really want to be on a team, that’s a powerful motivation to work through the pain,” he said. “And that’s exactly what happened to the boys in the football case.”

The diagnosis reflects a bigger problem in the district, he said.

“This is Rockwall Heath High School. The exact same high school where the 20+ boys that we know of were hospitalized or required treatment after a football workout,” he said. “If I had gotten this call about another school in the Dallas–Fort Worth area, yeah maybe I could understand. This is the same exact school.”

In 2023, several football players at RHHS were hospitalized and reportedly diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis after enduring grueling exercises, including approximately 14 push-ups, where any mistake would add even more, said Sawicki, who represented a handful of players in lawsuits, some of which have been settled out of court.

“One of the findings was to do a better job of educating teachers using physical exercise on the dangers,” said Sawicki. “In fact, in the football investigation, there were discussions about how rhabdo training needed to be part of it.”

According to the cheerleader’s lawsuit, one coach reportedly acknowledged “she had no rhabdomyolysis training,” further stating, “In hindsight, I would not assign (burpees) again.”

The teacher also said, “... it was the students themselves who came up with the idea to perform an excessive amount of burpees.”

The three teachers have reportedly resigned their positions on the cheer team after a Rockwall ISD investigation reportedly found the “three teachers’ actions violated at least five different district policies,” according to the investigative report provided by Sawicki.

According to the district’s investigative report dated Nov. 21, 2024, while there is no evidence the coaches acted “either knowingly or intentionally” to cause a cheerleader to develop rhabdomyolysis, “RHHS cheer coaches did not follow the doctor’s orders.”

The investigation also found “evidence supports that there is a lack of knowledge and training by the coaches regarding rhabdomyolysis.”

The girl’s parents initially sought reimbursement for her medical bills from the school district, he said.

Sawicki says the school district “dragged out” the appeals process for about seven months, only to conclude “by law, please know that the district is unable to provide compensation because such compensation would be a prohibited gift of public funds,” states a notice sent to the girl’s parents.

“After the parents couldn’t get any assistance with medical expenses, they contacted me,” he said.

Asked how the district can “make this right,” Sawicki replied: “I think they need to wake up. If the district is not going to take responsibility and let the teachers take the fall, then the teachers there need to know that the district doesn’t have their back. Our goal is just to get compensation that this girl sustained and hopefully prevent somebody else from getting hurt in the future, since the lesson wasn’t learned in 2023.”

NBC 5 and sister station Telemundo 39 reached out to Rockwall ISD for comment Thursday morning, requesting a statement on the new allegations and asking for an update on teachers' and coaches’ employment status, as well as any changes made since 2023.

The district’s spokesperson declined to comment, stating:

“Your questions seek the disclosure of student-specific information. Due to federal and state law protections, the district is unable to disclose or discuss confidential student information. Additionally, it is not the district’s practice to disclose information with regard to personnel in consideration of state law protections. Should you desire information concerning the training of district personnel, you are free to submit a request for information under the Texas Public Information Act in accordance with district policy. More information on submitting a request can be found at: https://www.rockwallisd.com/about-us/about-us/public-information-request. Thank you.”

According to Sawicki, the teachers have been served and will have about a month to respond.

“If at the top they’re not going to take responsibility, then this is going to keep happening,” said Sawicki.

The teen’s parents declined to speak on camera but provided NBC 5 the following statement:

“We brought this suit to protect our daughter and to protect other students from being injured.”