When UCLA offensive lineman John Lopez was unable to practice because of post concussion symptoms Bruins offensive line coach Adrian Klemm began harassing and humiliating him on a regular basis, according to one of three lawsuits filed against the UCLA football program this week.

“I will make it my mission that you never see the field,” Klemm told Lopez, according to the suit.

In fact Lopez said he was singled out by Klemm in a special drill in which teammates dealt Lopez repeated hits to the head.

“Come on, guys!” Klemm said according to the suit. “(Expletive) him up!”

Three potentially $15 million lawsuits filed on behalf of Lopez, a former Orange Lutheran standout, and two other Bruin lineman against former UCLA head coach Jim Mora, Klemm, the university’s regents, Bruin trainer Anthony Venute and the NCAA in Los Angeles Superior Court portray a UCLA program that paid lip service to concussion protocols, where trainers failed to conduct follow exams, and where coaches pressured injured players to return to practice and games and routinely ridiculed those who didn’t.

UCLA’s concussion policy “was mainly for show, as players were rushed through the process in order to return them to the playing field as soon as possible without properly clearing their return to play,” the Lopez suit alleges.

The suits allege negligence, breach of contract, infliction of emotional distress and negligent hiring and/or retention.

“Each of these young men suffered serious, but significantly different injuries, while they were teammates at UCLA,” said Pamela Tahim Thakur, an attorney for Lopez and two other ex-Bruin linemen Poasi Moala and Zachary Bateman. “While the lawsuits involve many of the same facts, each case is distinct in its own way. But what they all have in common is the pattern of brutality and intentional disregard for player health and safety by Coach Mora and his staff at UCLA.”

Lopez and Moala suffered traumatic head injuries while playing for UCLA and continue to experience symptoms linked to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

A pair of concussions suffered during high impact, helmet to helmet drills in 90-degree plus conditions at the 2013 and 2014 UCLA pre-season training camp in San Bernardino sent Lopez into a downward spiral of debilitating headaches, anxiety attacks and bouts of depression that led to a 2016 suicide attempt, according to the suit.

Lopez’s multiple concussions, the suit said, were “due to the reckless disregard for his health and safety” by Klemm, Mora and UCLA.

The allegations in Lopez’s suit echo many of the charges in Moala and Bateman’s lawsuits.

Moala suffered a concussion after taking “repeated hits to the head from man-on-man contact of repetitive hitting and head-to-head contact,” his suit alleges. Moala said Bruin coaches routinely dismissed or ignored his complaints and he was ridiculed by UCLA coaches in front teammates when he complained of post-concussion symptoms

“The team’s punishing practice regime left no time for Moala to recover from any of the post-concussion symptoms he experienced and the team’s supposed post-concussion protocol was well-known to the players to be just for show and was not followed in any meaningful way by the coaches and trainers,” the Moala suit alleges.

Bateman, a former Orange Coast College player who played at UCLA from 2015 through 2017, alleges he was bullied and ridiculed by coaching and training staff in front of his teammates and threatened with losing his scholarship after he complained about foot injuries.

When Bateman asked for MRIs on both his feet, a UCLA training staff member dismissed the request, the suit alleges.

“You don’t need a (expletive) MRI, Zach,” the training staff member said, according to the suit.

Subsequent MRIs conducted by an outside specialist revealed two fractures in Bateman’s right foot.

“While we cannot comment on the specific details of a pending lawsuit, we want to make it clear that the health and safety of our student-athletes is UCLA’s top priority,” UCLA said in a statement Thursday. “We strongly deny and will defend ourselves against the allegations made in the lawsuits. We handle every injury with the highest standard of care. Our team physicians and sports medicine staff work hand-in-hand on diagnosis, monitoring and treatment, and they are the only individuals who determine when a student-athlete is cleared to participate in their sport; coaches are not involved in these decisions. Moreover, we take potential head injuries very seriously. As one of the world’s leading research institutions, and a partner in the largest-ever concussion research study conducted by the U.S. Department of Defense and NCAA, we believe our concussion protocol is among the strongest in the country.”

Mora was fired by UCLA after the 2017 season. Klemm was fired in January 2017. He was hired as an assistant offensive line coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers in February. The Steelers did not respond to a request for comment from Klemm.

Lopez’s concussion problems began almost as soon as he joined the Bruin program, according to the suit.

Lopez and his parents told UCLA coaches that he was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The ADHD contributed to Lopez struggling “academically due to learning disabilities, the suit said.

Some studies have also found that individuals with ADHD have a higher risk of traumatic brain injury.

“If any of John’s coaches and trainers at UCLA were aware that ADHD is a known risk factor for traumatic brain injury, no one ever mentioned it to John or his parents,” the suit said.

Lopez was taken to the Loma Linda Medical Center’s emergency room after suffering head injuries during a drill conducted by Klemm in which players took “repeated hits” to the head during his first UCLA pre-season camp in August 2013, the suit said.

Lopez was one of seven Bruin players, including five offensive lineman diagnosed with concussions during the pre-season camp.

“I don’t know why we seem to have this rash of head injuries,” Mora told a Southern California News Group reporter at the time. “I’m not sure how serious all of them are, but we’re going to treat them all as if they’re very serious.”

By the end of the 2013 camp, Patrick Larimore, a linebacker and team captain, took a medical retirement after suffering multiple concussions. A month later offensive lineman Greg Capella also took a medical retirement because of concussion related issues.

While Lopez was diagnosed with a concussion after Loma Linda conducted a computerized tomography (CT) scan, UCLA did not “follow a post-concussion protocol to determine whether or not John developed symptoms of cognitive impairment,” the suit said.

Lopez suffered a second concussion at the 2014 training camp in San Bernardino after “multiple hits to the head.”

Again Venute and UCLA failed to conduct proper post-concussion treatment, the suit said.

Lopez suffered a third concussion on Dec. 15, 2015 after hitting his head during a fall while suffering from dizziness. He took a medical retirement but continued to be plagued by anxiety attacks and depression. In the fall of 2016 he attempted to suicide by ingesting over the counter and prescription medications.

He lived but continues to suffer from depression, anxiety, severe headaches, sensitivity to light and fogginess, according to the suit.

A political science major, the suit said it is “doubtful that he can finish (his degree) in regular classes on campus.”