Concussion Lawsuit Tracker Update: 29
Edited Feb.13 at 8:00pm
As of Friday February 10th, 29 concussion-related lawsuits have been filed against the NFL. The additional lawsuits not mentioned in this article are listed below: two wrongful deaths (Hilgenberg & Duranko) and Adams v. NFL and Henesey v. NFL.
On Friday, the twenty-fifth concussion-related lawsuit was filed against the NFL. The rainmakers at the Locks Law Firm filed their fifth lawsuit on behalf of the former players. The lawsuit is a mass tort naming 62 plaintiffs, including Jeremiah Trotter and Seth Joyner. The lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, captioned Steve Everitt et al v. NFL. The lawsuit is identical to the other suits filed by the Locks Firm, asserting seven counts against the NFL: 1) declaratory relief, 2) conspiracy to defraud, 3) fraudulent concealment, 4) fraud, 5) negligent misrepresentation, 6) negligence and 7) loss of consortium on behalf of the players’ wives.
The lawsuit also includes several elderly former players, including 85-year-old Fred Morrison, 81-year-old Bill Howton and 79-year-old Richard Bielski. It will be interesting to see how their age impacts their claims for relief. The NFL will likely argue that during their career the science of concussions was completely unknown, and these players were bound to have later-life cognitive decline despite playing football.
There are now twenty-five lawsuits filed against the NFL; this “tag-along action” will eventually be consolidated with the MDL, NFL Concussion Injury Litigation.
Lawsuit total:
Easterling v. NFL (Aug. 17) E.D. Penn
Pear v. NFL (Oct. 11) CA
Barnes v. NFL (Oct. 11) CA
Maxwell v. NFL (Oct. 11) CA
Hardman v. NFL (Oct. 13; voluntarily dismissed)
Finn v. NFL (Dec. 5) NJ
Jacobs v. NFL (Dec. 20) NY-Manhattan
Levens v. NFL (Dec. 21) ATL
Lewis v. NFL (Dec. 21) ATL
Stewart v. NFL (Dec. 21) ATL
Kuykendall v. NFL (Dec. 21) ATL
Jones v. NFL (Dec. 22) MIA
Rucker v. NFL (Dec. 27) NY
Boyd v. NFL (Jan. 9) E.D. Penn
Dronett v. NFL (Jan. 9) ATL
Austin v. NFL (Jan. 9) ATL
Ron Solt v. NFL (Jan.18) E.D. Penn
Joel Steed v. NFL (Jan. 19) CA
Andrew Glover v. NFL (Jan. 19) E.D. Penn
Rob Johnson v. NFL (Jan. 20) E.D. Penn
Steve Wallace v. NFL (Jan. 23) E.D. Penn
Shawn Wooden & Ryan Fowler v. NFL (Jan. 24) Miami
Fred Barnett et al v. NFL (Feb. 2) E.D. Penn
Ashley Lelie et al v. NFL (Feb. 3) E.D. Penn
Britt Hager et al v. NFL (Feb. 3) E.D. Penn
Estate of Wally Hilgenberg v. NFL (Feb. 3) E.D. Penn
Estate of Pete Duranko v. NFL.(Feb. 9) E.D. Penn
Adams v. NFL (Feb. 9) E.D. Penn
Steve Everitt et al v. NFL (Feb. 10) E.D. Penn
Henesey v. NFL (Feb. 10) E.D. Penn