Curtis Whitley, Latest Wrongful Death Suit Filed Against the NFL
It was a late Sunday night in 2008 when friends found Curtis Whitley lying face down in a trailer, dead at the age of 39. Whitley lived a well-depicted life of a bad boy: snorting crystal meth, driving erratically high on drugs and alcohol, and breaking NFL’s policies like a bat out of hell.
He played six years in the NFL and was suspended twice due to violations of the NFL’s drug and alcohol policies.
Was it the drugs and alcohol or something else that led to Whitley’s premature death?
According to the most recent wrongful death lawsuit filed by Whitley’s family, the NFL was responsible for Whitley’s demise by “conceal[ing] important medical information….” According to the lawsuit, Whitley suffered from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).
Whitley’s brain was one of the several brains of former NFL players examined by Drs. Bennett Omalu and Julian Bailes that was found to show signs of CTE.
Although an autopsy report determined that Whitley’s cause of death was due to a drug overdose, during the latter part of his life he did suffer from symptoms directly related to severe cognitive decline, including paranoia, suicidal thoughts and extreme depression, according to the complaint.
Whitley left behind two minor children: Hanna Whitley and Curtis Whitley, Jr. Their legal guardian is Alfred R. Camarena, the party whose name the case is captioned in.
This is the sixth wrongful death lawsuit filed against the NFL and the 51st concussion-related lawsuit.
The complaint alleges similar facts as the other lawsuits, and asserts six counts: negligence, negligent misrepresentation, fraud, actual fraud, wrongful death, and survival and pain and suffering.
The family is represented by Stuart Fraenkel and Nicole Andersen of Kreindler & Kriendler LLP. Andersen stated that the law firm plans on filing additional lawsuits in the coming weeks.
Case Caption: Alfred Camarena on behalf of the Estate of Curtis Whitley v. NFL — filed in California Superior Court, Alameda County on March 21, 2012.