§ 131.004.Cause of Action by Institution

The school’s own cause of action, drawn in parallel with the conference’s.

A person who violates an adopted rule is liable for damages in an action brought by an institution if the person knew or reasonably should have known of the violation, and the violation is a contributing factor to disciplinary action taken by the national association against the institution or a student at the institution.

The two claims differ only in who sues and who was disciplined. The conference’s claim reaches discipline against itself, a member institution, or a student at one; this one reaches discipline against the institution or its student.

So both may arise from the same violation. A penalty against a university supports a claim by that university under this section and a claim by its conference under the preceding one.

The distribution provision explains why that is not double recovery in the ordinary sense. A conference that recovers must distribute the damages to its member institutions in the way it regularly distributes athletic proceeds — so the conference’s recovery flows to schools generally, while the institution’s own recovery stays with it.

The institution is the party that suffers the direct loss, and the damages provision reflects that: lost television revenues and lost ticket sales for regular and post-season events.

The defences are drawn to match. Employees of the national association, of the conference of which the institution is a member, of the institution itself, and students at it are all protected — the same insider exclusion as the conference claim, keyed to this institution.