For The Third Time, California Courts Rule that the NFL Remains the Away Team

The National Football League (NFL) suffered its third blow from a California appeals court on Tuesday, May 28, 2013. First, the NFL-favored venue of California for the concussion related suits was denied; second, the NFL’s least preferable venue of New York was allowed; and now, California says the NFL will be the visiting team in New York court against 32 insurance companies.

The NFL is looking to pass the bill to insurers for its concussion related lawsuits. The League argued for California jurisdiction …

May 7, 2013 NFL

NFL Players’ Workers’ Compensation Offset Suit Revisited by Second Circuit

On April 19, 2013, the Second Circuit reopened a claim allowing injured former National Football League (NFL) players from teams including the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets, and Carolina Panthers to go forward with further litigation against the National Football League Management Council (council) over the size of workers’ compensation offsets that can be claimed by their former teams.

The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) and the council are parties to a collective bargaining agreement that incorporates a standard player’s contract into its terms …

April 26, 2013 NFL

Objectionable Combine Questions Lead the NFL and NY Attorney General to Team Up to Combat Sexual Orientation Based Harassment and Discrimination

On April 24, 2013, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced that the AG’s office would be working closely with the NFL to develop news policies to protect players from discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation. Eventually, the effort will produce posters outlining the NFL’s anti-discrimination policies, which will be distributed and prominently placed in the locker rooms of all 32 teams across the league. The NFL also plans to implement new training procedures to educate players and individuals involved in recruiting on …

April 16, 2013 Concussions

Riddell Takes Huge Hit with Multi-Million Dollar Verdict in Colorado Concussion Lawsuit

A jury in Las Animas County, Colorado, returned an $11.5 million verdict against helmet manufacturer Riddell and several school officials in a case involving a teen football player who was injured in 2008. The Ridolfi family filed a lawsuit after their son Brett suffered a concussion during high school football practice. Brett wasn’t immediately taken to the hospital, and later suffered permanent brain damage and paralysis on his left side. The family brought suit against Riddell and others to recover for Brett’s injuries.

The jury …

April 9, 2013 Concussions

Former NFL Players Fighting to Stay in Court in Hearing on Concussion Suit

On April 9, 2013, U.S. District Judge Anita Brody heard oral arguments in the ongoing NFL concussion litigation venued in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The suit essentially accuses the League of downplaying the risks of concussions and other playing-related head injuries and their effect on later-life cognitive decline. Multiple pending suits were condensed into a single multi-district litigation earlier last year and now includes over 4,200 former NFL players as plaintiffs. The outcome of today’s hearing could decide whether the lawsuit will continue in …

March 19, 2013 Concussions

Were the NFL & Riddell Out of Bounds for Rejecting Competitor’s Potentially Concussion Reducing Helmet?

Industrial designer Phil Straus began thinking of ways to lessen the impact of football head injuries and concussions in the late 1980s. After several years of work Straus developed a prototype of the “ProCap” in 1989 by attaching a half-inch-thick urethane mold on top of traditional football helmets. His work showed signs of promise in lab tests, and later gained acceptance by a number of NFL players who swore that the invention functioned as advertised. Mark Kelso, former Buffalo Bills free safety, swore by the …

March 19, 2013 NFL

Athletes Awarded Millions from California’s Workers Compensation System

All states allow athletes to be awarded workers’ compensation benefits for injuries sustained during their playing days. However, California has emerged as a favorite jurisdiction for two reasons. First, California is one of the few states that allow athletes to claim injuries for the cumulative effect of injuries over time, or what some jurisdictions would call either an “occupational disease” or “cumulative injury.” Second, California has extremely lax personal jurisdiction requirements.

Ordinarily, a claimant in a workers’ compensation claim would need to establish residency or …

March 18, 2013 Concussions

NFL Goes 0 for 2 Against Insurance Companies in Court

The National Football League is now 0-2. It lost yet another round on the legal gridiron last week when New York State Supreme Court Judge, Jeffrey K. Oing, ruled that the lawsuit between the NFL and its insurance companies could proceed in NY. This is despite the fact that the NFL filed a similar lawsuit in California first. This echoes a previous ruling by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John Shepard Wiley Jr. who held last fall that California was the wrong venue to deal …

March 15, 2013 NFL

NY AG Says NFL Can’t Fish for Information about Player’s Sexual Orientation at Combine

On March 14, 2013, New York’s Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sent a warning letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after rumors emerged that the league was asking players about their sexual preferences when they reported to the scouting combine – employer behavior which is illegal in many jurisdictions. The questions at issue were directed to three incoming college players who were allegedly asked whether they had girlfriends, whether they were married, or whether or not they “liked girls.”

New York prohibits prospective employers from discriminating …

March 13, 2013 Concussions

NFL Teams Up with GE to Fund New Concussion Research

On March 11, 2013, the National Football League and the General Electric Co. announced that they are teaming up to create a Head Health Initiative that will provide $60 million dollars to assist leading neurologists in researching traumatic brain injuries and developing technology able to monitor these ailments. $40 million will go towards developing imaging technologies, and the remaining $20 million will be available to others who seek to prevent, identify, and develop treatments for brain injuries. Athletic apparel company Under Armour will also be …