NFL Class Action Targets Repeated Head Trauma and Brain Injuries

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The National Football League has been hit with a proposed class action lawsuit by a number of players who have been given a preliminary diagnosis of a brain disease linked to head trauma, alleging the league engaged in negligent acts. The suit was filed just one day after an investigative report released by The New York Times claimed NFL concussion research was linked to flawed data.

Plaintiff Tracy Scroggins, a former linebacker and defensive end for the Detroit Lions in the 1990s, initiated the class action after The New York Times released an article indicating that the NFL published a series of reports using faulty data to mislead the public and NFL players. The analysis conducted by the NFL allegedly downplayed the long-term impact that repeated head trauma has on its players.

The lawsuit focuses on a condition called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), which is a degenerative brain disorder that NFL players have been diagnosed with as an alleged result of repeated head trauma sustained in their profession.

The New York Times investigation drew a parallel in the tactics used by both the NFL and the tobacco industry, known for using questionable scientific data to downplay the dangers associated with smoking cigarettes, and revealed that both had used shared experts between them.

“The N.F.L.’s handling of its health crisis concerning repeated head trauma causing CTE is strikingly similar to that of the tobacco industry, which was notorious for using questionable science to play down the dangers of cigarettes,” the lawsuit read. “Records show that the two industries (N.F.L. and Big Tobacco) shared lobbyists, lawyers and consultants.”

The New York Times article and current lawsuit filed by Scroggins are just a couple of the recent outlets that have surfaced questioning the NFL over its apparent reluctance to acknowledge the long-term effects players sustain after dealing with blows, tackles, blocks and longer term brain injury as the players and public search for ways to mitigate these health risks.

The lawsuit cited data in the Times’ report showing that the NFL research studies omitted information from more than 100 concussions in their research from 1996 to 2001, including injuries suffered by players like former quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, Troy Aikman. The NFL research committee was formed in 1994 to investigate the dangers of head traumas on players and began publishing its research findings in 2003.

“The defendant has, over the past four decades, actively concealed and actively disputed any correlation between repeated head trauma and CTE,” the complaint states.

Scroggins seeks to represent a Class of current and former NFL players who have sustained repeated head trauma while playing for the league and those who have been diagnosed with CTE since leaving the league. Players who have similar pending or previous claims against the NFL are excluded. The number of players in the proposed Class is estimated to include more than several thousand members.

The lawsuit brings forth claims against the NFL including concealment, negligence and civil conspiracy as well as violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). As part of the relief requested, Scroggins calls for the establishment of a medical monitoring program for players believed to suffer from long-term brain injury. Scroggins also seeks compensation, expenses, loss of consortium (spousal companionship) and other “intangible losses” on behalf of former NFL players and their spouses.

In response to the report in The New York Times, the NFL posted a public statement on its website refuting the claims. The NFL continued to defend its concussion study data, claiming it was “necessarily preliminary and acknowledged that much more research was needed” and stated that since the study, it has commissioned and funded additional research to be undertaken to address the issue.

Scroggins is represented by Tim Howard of Howard & Associates PA.

The NFL Head Trauma Class Action Lawsuit is Tracy Scroggins, et al. v. National Football League, Case No. 0:16-cv-60644, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

UPDATE: On Apr. 1, 2016, Rose Stabler, the widow of infamous Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler, has joined the latest concussion-based class action lawsuit against the NFL.