New NCAA personal injury lawsuits could be nixed by previous concussion deal

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has been named the defendant in a new wave of class action lawsuits over student athletes’ concussions, but experts say plaintiffs could hit a deadlock as the NCAA is trying to connect the new claims to a related settlement. The lawsuits are concerned about repeated blows to the head, or concussions, claiming that a lot of former players are currently afflicted with neurological and cognitive damage, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE.

The NCAA had already come to a $75 million medical monitoring settlement in the concussion multi-district litigation back in April 2015, but some athletes were not amenable to it, noting that the settlement did not provide relief for those who are already experiencing neurological concerns. For instance, former California-based San Diego State University football player Anthony Nichols, claimed the settlement mandated class members to waive “billions and billions of dollars” in personal injury lawsuits.

Sports and entertainment lawyer Timothy Liam Epstein said that the settlement does not provide the NCAA with “blanket immunity”, as it does not give individual damages to the former players as the plaintiffs demand in the new lawsuits. For his part, NCAA chief legal officer Donald Remy made the contention that, “Failing to achieve a bodily injury component to the [MDL] settlement, it appears that counsel is attempting to extract a bodily injury settlement through the filing of these new questionable class actions.”

If you had been injured, maimed, or put at risk of physical trauma or even death due to participation in sports in San Diego and received no assistance from the school or team you played for, get in touch with our attorneys at Ritter & Associates by calling our offices today at (619) 296-0123.