The Supreme Court of the United States of America has chosen not to take up the final two petitions for review of the settlement between the National Football League and a class of former players who have been diagnosed with neurological disorders, according to the Associated Press.
Supreme Court Declines Review of NFL Concussion Settlement
That means that the settlement, which was affirmed by the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals on April 18, can move forward.
Two separate petitions were filed with the SCOTUS, both asking the court to stop the settlement. That would have put the conglomeration of lawsuits which were originally filed in a federal court in Philadelphia in 2012 back on track for an actual court date. One petition was filed by a group of 31 former players, while the other was filed by the family of the deceased Cookie Gilchrist.
Among the criticisms of the settlement are that the terms allow the NFL to keep secret what it knew about the dangers of concussions, how much if any of that information that it shared and the links between repeated concussions and playing its game. Additionally, there is no force of law requiring the NFL to admit any wrongdoing.
The larger criticism is that the settlement does not include payments for families of current and former NFL players who are still living, and whose eventual autopsies may show evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopahty (CTE). Additionally, payments for current and former players who experience symptoms of CTE while living such as aggression, depression and mood swings are not included.
The NFL got to save face in the deal. The class of players, which includes any former NFL player who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (more commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig‘s disease) or Parkinson’s disease, will get payments from the specifically-designated league fund for a term of the next 65 years. Families of diseased players whose autopsies showed evidence of CTE are also included in the class.
Payments for former players with ALS are expected to reach up to $5 million, while those with advanced Alzheimer’s should be eligible for $3.5 million. Families of deceased CTE sufferers can expect up to $4 million. The average payout for the more than 20,000 currently eligible former players is expected to be about $190,000.
While studies are still being done about the link between playing football and brain injury, the matter of lawsuits which allege that the NFL hid information from its players on the dangers of playing its game in relation to neurological disorders is settled as far as the law is concerned. Affected parties can expect payments in the next 90-120 days, and hopefully that helps to ease the struggles of individuals and families who have been affected by these diseases.
