Photo of Dr. Scott Lynch at Beaver Stadium. Joe Hermitt, PennLive.com THE PATRIOT-NEWS

Dr. Scott Lynch is in Sweden continuing his crusade for medical autonomy for team doctors treating college athletes. But he took time out of his international schedule to weigh in on the firing of the coach with whom he clashed, leading to his own 2019 dismissal – James Franklin.

“Of course I heard the Penn State football news,” Lynch told PennLive in a text message exchange late Tuesday night.

“Here’s what I think about Coach Franklin’s dismissal: The health and safety of the athletes is better because of his removal and the selection of Terry Smith to succeed him,” Lynch added.

Lynch said in his medical work for Penn State as the football team’s orthopedic consultant and overall medical director for Penn State Athletics, “Never once did Terry Smith attempt to influence our medical decisions. I wish him success.”

Smith has been named interim head coach of the Nittany Lions.

In May 2024, a Dauphin County jury awarded Lynch $5.25 million following a seven-day trial that centered on Lynch’s 2019 firing from his dual medical roles at Penn State. The orthopedic surgeon successfully sued his employer, Penn State Health, and the then-boss who removed him from his Penn State medical roles, Dr. Kevin Black. However, both Penn State and Franklin were dropped from the Lynch’s original suit over a filing deadline technicality.

But Lynch’s legal targeting of Franklin didn’t stop there.

In July, Lynch was back in court seeking punitive damages from Penn State, itself, over the university’s handling of his and other medical staffers’ meddling complaints against Franklin.

In a civil suit filed July 31 in Philadelphia, Lynch and his attorney, Steve Marino, accuse Penn State and its former Athletics Integrity Officer Bob Boland of fraudulently and intentionally concealing and misrepresenting multiple complaints from the Penn State Athletics’ medical staff that Franklin interfered in their treatment of injured players.

The suit seeks unspecified punitive damages and other costs against both defendants.

Since then, attorneys for Penn State University and Boland have filed motions seeking to have the suit dismissed or transferred to Dauphin County, where Lynch’s original case was litigated.

The university’s attorneys argue Lynch’s new lawsuit violates Pennsylvania’s claim-splitting doctrine, is time-barred under the two-year statute of limitations and fails to meet the legal standards for fraud. They also argue that Philadelphia is an improper venue, citing the university’s lack of business operations in the county.

Penn State also filed a separate motion in Dauphin County seeking to enforce the settlement agreement in the first suit. University attorneys say that agreement bars Lynch from pursuing further litigation related to his firing. That motion remains pending.
Lynch previously said the suit is part of his continued fight to protect student athletes, adding:

“It has been well over a year since my jury verdict. Neither Penn State, The Big Ten, or the NCAA have done anything to protect the student-athletes. I will keep fighting to hold them accountable so they will make changes to help with this national problem.”

Photo of James Franklin (CBS)

In the suit, Lynch accuses the university of using its Athletics Integrity Office to conceal multiple complaints from medical staff members about Franklin’s alleged interference in player treatments and return-to-play decisions.

The Athletics Integrity Office was established in 2012 in wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex scandal and the NCAA’s sweeping sanctions against Penn State.

The suit accuses Penn State and Boland, who was installed as its athletics integrity officer in 2017, of failing to investigate and manage the complaints about Franklin’s alleged “unethical conduct or improper behavior” in a manner “consistent with the University’s Athletic Integrity Program.”

Instead, the suit contends Penn State and Boland operated “under an undisclosed and unwritten protocol of invoking University’s Office of General Counsel to undertake and direct any inquiry or investigation of the disclosures” against Franklin. This had the effect of making the entire investigation secret, instead of transparent, locking it down under the protection of attorney-client privilege.

The new lawsuit states that not only were complaints against Franklin lodged by Lynch, fellow team orthopedist Dr. Peter Seidenberg and head athletic trainer Tim Bream took their player treatment clashes with the head coach to Boland, too. All have since left their posts – as has Boland, whose address is listed as Toledo, Ohio.

The lawsuit states: “As early as 2018, on multiple occasions (Lynch) and Dr. Seidenberg disclosed to defendant Robert Boland, they, along with Tim Bream, each had repeatedly experienced Coach Franklin’s improper attempts to interfere with their autonomous authority to determine medical management and return-to-play decisions related to student-athletes.”

The suit argues this amounts to “fraudulent intentional concealment” and “fraudulent misrepresentation,” entitling Lynch, as plaintiff, to punitive damages from the defendants intended to punish their behavior.

For its part, the university contends that Pennsylvania law does not recognize fraudulent concealment in non-commercial contexts like this one, and that neither Penn State nor Boland had a legal duty to disclose the internal legal strategy to Lynch. They further argue that Lynch’s allegations fail to establish a direct causal link between any alleged misrepresentation and his removal from his university roles.

Penn State interim head coach Terry Smith speaks during a press conference at Beaver Stadium the day after head coach James Franklin was fired. Oct. 13, 2025. Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.com

Meanwhile, Lynch, who retired from Penn State Health this summer, continues to advocate for medical autonomy for the doctors and trainers who treat college athletes at universities across the country. He has been named vice president of health and safety for the College Football Players Association, a non-profit fraternal group actively seeking to establish chapters at various universities and claim collective bargaining rights for college football players.

In his comments to PennLive Tuesday, Lynch said his task got a little bit easier with Franklin’s ouster and Coach Smith’s appointment.

“My goal to improve medical autonomy is better because of these events,” Lynch said from the Arthroscopy & Rehabilitation Conference in Stockholm, where he and his attorney were invited to speak about their legal battles against Penn State and Franklin.

“We all need to continue to fight to protect the rights of the athletes and push for real accountability when violations occur,” Lynch said.

NOTE: This story was updated.

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