Chelsea Oliver, the widow of Paul Oliver, gained a big win in the federal court system on July 19, 2016. A federal judge remanded Chelsea Oliver’s case against Riddell Incorporated back to the state courts. Riddell removed the case from state court in May, claiming it fell under the Labor Management Relations Act. The federal judge rejected this argument and sent it back to the Circuit Court of Cook County.
This case stems from the death of Chelsea Oliver’s husband, Paul Oliver, who committed suicide in front of Chelsea and their two sons in 2013 and was later diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). Paul Oliver played six seasons with the San Diego Chargers in the National Football League. He retired from playing in 2011. Chelsea Oliver has previously settled with the Chargers and is included in the NFL concussion settlement.
Chelsea Oliver filed a lawsuit against Riddell and its associates on March 11, 2016. She claimed that Riddell is responsible for the “horrific” suicide of her husband. She claims Riddell conspired with the NFL “in a long-term plan to conceal material information about football’s link to CTE and other neurological/neurobehavioral conditions.” Oliver argues Riddell refused to “warn that their helmet systems could not, and would not, prevent CTE and/or latent brain injury” in spite of knowledge of “safety risks relating to all helmets.”
Riddell and other sports equipment manufacturers formed an organization, the National Operating Committee on Standards for Equipment Safety, to investigate and to create better products together in 1968. However, Oliver claims this was a conspiracy between the NFL and Riddell to avoid liability by funding phony studies to disprove the link between CTE and football. One such example is the release of a new helmet in 2002 which claimed to reduce concussions by 31 percent. In 2011, the Cleveland Clinic refuted this claim, stating “modern football helmets are no better at protecting against concussions that vintage “leatherhead’ football helmets.”
Chelsea Oliver participated in an emotional interview with HBO Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel and discussed “the monster” who no longer was her husband. Oliver recognized the radical transformation in her husband during his football career. She believes the change in his personality is directly related to football. Following his suicide, Oliver sent her husband’s brain to Boston University, which specializes in diagnosing CTE. Paul Oliver had an advanced form of CTE.