Concussion Lawsuit Tracker Update: Number 22

2012 February 2

by Paul Anderson

Former players, Fred Barnett, Andrew Glover, JoJuan Armour, Jamaica Rector, and Kywin Supernaw filed the twenty-second lawsuit against the NFL today. The lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and it should eventually become a “tag-along” action, joining the Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) #2323 NFL Concussion Injury Litigation.

The lawsuit alleges the same facts as the other twenty-one lawsuits, and it includes the additional allegation, similar to the Finn lawsuit, regarding the administration of Toradol. The lawyers that filed the Finn lawsuit (James Cecchi and Christopher Seeger) are also named as counsel to the Barnett suit.

Furthermore, Andrew Glover has already brought a class action lawsuit on behalf of himself and other retired and former players. It is unclear whether that lawsuit will be dismissed or if he will be dropped as a plaintiff in the current suit. Most likely, this was done for strategic purposes in case the putative class Glover seeks to represent is certified.

This “strategy” is going on elsewhere; there are a handful of plaintiffs that are also a named plaintiff in related suits. It’s clear that the plaintiffs’ lawyers are already starting to work together. Once the remaining lawsuits are consolidated and transferred to Judge Brody, the plaintiffs’ lawyers will have to determine what lawsuit the player will be a party to.

The lawyers not yet a party to the MDL expect Judge Brody to request that the other lawsuits be transferred to her court. This should occur within the next few weeks.

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