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Federal Court Sacks the NFL Over Head Injuries
On January 31, 2012, just six days before Super Bowl Sunday the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Cases ordered the consolidation of a series of class actions brought against the League and others by football players alleging that their complaints of concussion-related injuries were not given proper responses, and that the defendants engaged in concealment and conspiracy. They sue for injuries resulting from long-term effects from play in the NFL, according to the Legal intelligencer, of Philadelphia, on February 1, 2012. Class actions have been brought in various federal districts and will now be consolidated before District Judge Anita J. Brody in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia.
Defendant helmet manufacturer, Riddell Inc., reportedly joined the NFL in opposing the consolidation of the lawsuits, preferring to have its motions to dismiss decided in the individual districts, specifically in California. Judge John J. Heyburn II, current chairman of the Multidistrict Panel which ordered the consolidation, says that Judge Brody in Philadelphia will be able to determine Riddell’s objections to the consolidation.
The NFL posited a different defense: this is a labor dispute “dressed up as tort claims,” and the dispute should be resolved under the Players’ Agreement, as reported by the Legal Intelligencer. Judge Brody will now blow the whistle, tackle the issues, gain through the lines (of briefs), circle the ends (of lawyers’ arguments), and make the final calls as referee and field judge, managing a growing number class actions by professional football players. We hope the good judge will be able to take time out to watch Super Bowl. We will.
© February 2012, Law Offices of John C. Lane
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