Concussions Causing a Stir in the Sports World

Author: Scarinci Hollenbeck, LLC|November 15, 2013

Concussions Causing a Stir in the Sports World

The impact of concussions in sports has been a major topic of conversation in recent years, and it appears that a new sports law may need to be implemented to better protect players from long-term damage stemming from head injuries.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association and four former college athletes recently entered the mediation process that could lead to the settlement of a class-action lawsuit. The plaintiffs claim the association ignored concussions for many years, and argue that the NCAA was negligent because it failed to adopt a formal concussion policy until 2010.

“Continuing to turn a blind eye and continuing to essentially pretend that the concussion issue isn’t as severe as it is, those are the things we say make the NCAA negligent,” sports attorney for some of the plaintiffs Joseph Siprut told Fox Sports.

The NFL recently faced a concussion lawsuit as well – coming to a $765 million settlement with more than 18,000 former players earlier this year. But, many experts believe the NCAA’s lawsuit could have greater implications, especially if mediation breaks down and the lawsuit is brought to court.

Travis Leach, a Phoenix sports attorney, told Fox Sports that the NFL had a collective bargaining agreement in place, which aided the league in its defense – something the NCAA doesn’t have at its disposal.

“In the NCAA case, you don’t have that bargaining unit,” Leach said. “So the parties negotiating for the best interest of the players are taken out. I think you’ve also got a causation problem with the NCAA case. In the NFL, potentially they could have looked to injuries a player sustained in college as being the root cause.”

There’s no telling what compensation will be like in the NCAA’s concussion case, but under the NFL’s settlement, individual awards for men with Alzheimer’s disease linked to concussions were capped at $5 million. However, monetary rewards may not be the only outcome, as new sports laws may be drafted to further protect players in the future.