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SPOR T S
Knockout blow: the NFL and NHL concussion
lawsuits
ANDREW CYR
Sports Editor
A group of former National Football League
(NFL) players made headlines in April 2011,
when they filed a federal lawsuit against the
league alleging that the league’s negligence contributed to their suffering repeated concussions
over the course of their careers. Since then, over
4,800 former players have joined the suit, including former stars such as Jim McMahon and Bruce
Smith. The players’ Complaint alleges that the
NFL “was aware of the evidence and the risks
associated with repetitive traumatic brain injuries
virtually at the inception, but deliberately ignored
and actively concealed the information from the
Plaintiffs and all others who participated in organized football at all levels.” The NFL made an
attempt to settle the suit in August of 2013, reaching a $765 million settlement, only to have the
settlement rejected by U.S. District Judge Anita
Brody as insufficient to satisfy the claims of all
potentially qualifying plaintiffs. The NFL will
thus likely end up paying a larger settlement at
some point in the future, although when is uncertain. There is an obvious incentive for the NFL to
allow litigation to drag on in an effort to force the
hand of the plaintiffs’ lawyers, who are working on
a contingency fee.
When the NFL’s concussion lawsuit was filed,
many hockey fans knew it was only a matter of
time before retired NHLers would follow suit
(pun intended). Sure enough, in November 2013,
a group of 10 former NHL players filed a lawsuit with U.S. District Court for the District of
Columbia making similar claims to those contained in the NFL lawsuit Complaint. Specifically, the NHL players’ Complaint states that
the league knew, or should have known, about
the dangers posed by concussions and failed to
do enough to reduce the risk of head injuries and
educate players about the issue. This assertion
is largely based on the league’s failure to take
remedial action in light of mounting evidence of
the long-term dangers of head injuries. However,
the Complaint also alleges that the league’s negligent conduct persists by, “refusing to ban fighting, refusing permanently to ban players who,
after investigation and a fair hearing, have been
shown to have intentionally hit another player
in the head, and by continuing to permit teams
to employ hockey players whose main role is to
fight or violently hit players on the other team
(“Enforcers”).