On October 13, 2017, class counsel in the National Football League concussion litigation asked a Pennsylvania federal judge to rule that an uncapped settlement agreement prohibits players from assigning their payouts to a third party. The motions stem from a hearing in July that addressed concerns that players who would benefit from an uncapped settlement were being improperly solicited by claim assistance providers who may be giving misleading offers. Then, in a September hearing, class counsel warned the judge that many players made deals with …
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Football Helmet Maker Fends Off Another Concussion-Related Lawsuit
The country’s largest helmet manufacturer, Riddell, filed a motion to dismiss on Wednesday, October 18, 2017, in a suit brought by a class of former high school football players in August. The players allege Riddell’s negligence, failure to warn, and design defects caused the athletes’ current long-term brain and neurocognitive injuries. Riddell argues the players’ design defects claim is contradicted by their complaint that also cites a 2002 product label that warned “[c]ontact in football may result in concussion-brain injury which no helmet can prevent.” …
Continue ReadingHernandez’s Daughter Adds Helmet Maker in Refiled CTE Suit
On October 16, 2017, Aaron Hernandez’s daughter, Avielle Hernandez, filed suit in Massachusetts state court against the NFL and helmet maker Riddell Inc. for Hernandez’s post-death diagnosis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). This suit was filed a few days after Avielle’s lawyers withdrew her suit in federal court against the NFL and the New England Patriots. However, the New England Patriots were left out of the Massachusetts state court suit. Avielle’s attorney stated that a separate action involving the Patriots will be filed at a …
Continue ReadingCowboys’ Elliott Catches Yet Another Reprieve in Fight Against NFL Suspension
South District of New York Judge Paul Crotty granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) on Tuesday, October 16, 2017, blocking the NFL’s suspension of Dallas Cowboys’ star Ezekiel Elliott, pending a hearing before the presiding judge, Katherine Polk Failla, who is on vacation. Judge Crotty’s ruling that “irreparable harm” would be caused if Elliott served the suspension comes only five days after the Fifth Circuit had overturned the first injunction, issued by a Texas court, which had frozen Elliott’s suspension. The Fifth Circuit …
Continue ReadingThe NFL and Ezekiel Elliott Will Now Duel in New York Federal Court Over His Six-Game Domestic Violence Suspension
The battle between Dallas Cowboys star Ezekiel Elliott and the NFL continues. Last week the Fifth Circuit cleared the way for the NFL to enforce Elliott’s six-game domestic violence suspension. In the most recent update, the NFL Players Union urged the New York federal judge overseeing the NFL’s adjoining suit to grant it an emergency order blocking his suspension that is set to begin this coming Monday, October 23, 2017. Among its answer and counterclaim in the New York suit, the Players Union seeks an …
Continue ReadingNCAA Says UNC “Sham” Classes Did Not Violate Rules
On October 13, 2017, an NCAA panel ruled that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) did not violate NCAA policy for offering “sham” classes. The issues in the case were discovered in August 2011 and the following three years in which UNC conducted a number of internal and external reviews. The reviews led to a criminal indictment against Julius Nyang’oro, the former chair of the department of the “sham” classes, for obtaining property by false pretenses. Those charges were later dropped.
A …
Continue ReadingGolf Caddies Ask for Mulligan in Suit Over PGA Tour Bib-Ads
On October 12, 2017, golf caddies urged the Ninth Circuit to revive their proposed antitrust class action against PGA Tour Inc. for allegedly exploiting them as walking advertisements. The golf caddies claimed the lower court erred by using evidence outside of their complaint to interpret the contracts and that they had no chance to respond to the court’s arguments.
In their original lawsuit filed by over 80 caddies in February 2015, the caddies alleged that PGA Tour earns $50 million a year from a policy …
Continue ReadingIs Ezekiel Elliott’s Suspension Finally Going to be Enforced After Appellate Court Sides with NFL?
The latest motion in the legal battle over Ezekiel Elliott’s suspension has been decided. The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cleared the way for the NFL to enforce a six-game suspension on Dallas Cowboys star Ezekiel Elliott over domestic violence accusations, siding with the league in the most recent high-profile fight over its ability to penalize players for off-field behavior. Specifically, the Fifth Circuit, in a 2-1 opinion, granted a stay for the injunction that was postponing Elliott’s six-game suspension. The majority ruled that …
Continue ReadingAgent and Trainer Seek Light Sentences for Smuggling in Cuban Ballplayers
On October 10, 2017, baseball agent Bartolo Hernandez and sports trainer Julio Estrada requested a Florida federal judge give light sentences — instead of the government’s request for harsher sentences — for their convictions for smuggling Cuban baseball players into the United States. In March, a Miami jury convicted Hernandez and Estrada for their roles in a scheme that coerced vulnerable baseball players, obtained false documents, and assisted in fraudulent and outright illegal entry into the U.S. Hernandez faces 3 to 15 years in prison …
Continue ReadingDecision on Cowboys’ Elliott Suspension Officially Thrown into Fifth Circuit’s Hands
The NFL’s New York suit seeking to enforce the six-game suspension on Dallas Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott was halted on October 11, 2017 until the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals makes a decision. Manhattan federal court’s District Judge Katherine Polk Failla said she would not issue a formal stay of the injunction — the injunction currently preventing Elliott’s suspension from taking immediate effect — but that she would halt the New York litigation. Elliott has played, so far, in all five Cowboys’ games this season.
The …
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