USC Facing Another Football-Related Lawsuit

When the USC Trojans defeated Stanford last year, 20-17, in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum last season, all hell broke loose.

That's what a security guard that was working the game is claiming in a lawsuit that was filed against USC Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Here's Los Angeles Times courts reporter Marisa Gerber:

In an eight-page complaint filed Wednesday in L.A. Superior Court, David Bueno says that USC should have done more to keep fans from stampeding and describes the post-game rush as "an atmosphere of havoc."

One of three guards in charge of manning a stairwell that leads down to the field, Bueno claims that fans stomped on him, injuring his head, lungs and back, and bruising his entire body.

USC did not immediately provide a comment.

Bueno worked for Contemporary Services Corporation (CSC), the nationwide security service that works USC sporting events at the Coliseum (as well as other locations, including the Galen Center).

He is blaming pretty much everyone even remotely involved in the situation -- USC, California Science Center (who had essentially been the Coliseum landlord but signed over control to USC in September last year), the Pac-12 Conference and the city of Los Angeles.

His assertion is that barricades should have been put up to stop fans from getting onto the field. However, during the field storming that night, many fans dropped down from the stands rather than waiting to go down the stairwell where David Bueno was supposedly standing.

Bueno likely has a better chance of getting a judgment for what else the lawsuit claims:

The lawsuit says the university didn’t fulfill its duty to sufficiently plan ahead for "the magnitude of a nationally significant game like USC v. Stanford so that fans, players, coaches, officials, and security personnel are not ‘left in the lurch’ by inadequate security."

The suit is for an unspecified amount of money. This is the second lawsuit filed against the University of Southern California in the last two weeks following former USC cornerback Brian Baucham's lawsuit alleging he was forced to play while ill and "suffered cardiopulmonary damage and brain injury."