In the wake of the recent NFL settlement and an increased national focus on the long-term effects of concussion injuries, the National Hockey League (NHL) is now facing a similar mounting scenario in a lawsuit brought on by ex-hockey players.
The first major personal injury class action lawsuit was filed by 10 former NHL players late in November. The suit targets three areas of the professional game:
- Fighting
- Body checking
- The deliberate use of Enforcers
Lawsuit Claims the NHL Concealed the Dangers of Physical Play and Concussions
The NHL class action suit includes former Toronto Maple Leafs captain Rick Vaive, among the 10 plaintiffs. The plaintiffs claim the league ignored data on the dangers of head injuries and hasn’t done enough to protect players from concussions. The lawsuit outlines an alleged pattern of the NHL “causing or contributing to the injuries and increased risks” to its players. It further alleges that current rules allowing fighting and body checking are part of that pattern. The lawsuit states:
“The game of hockey as played in the NHL, including both practices and game play, has exposed former players to hazardous conditions and out-of-the ordinary risks of harm. These repetitive head accelerations to which the Plaintiffs have been exposed present risks of latent but long-term debilitating chronic illnesses not presented to the normal population. Absent defendants’ negligence, fraud, and/or misrepresentations, Plaintiffs’ exposure to the risks of harm as described above (including but not limited to) the release of biological substances into their respective brains would have been materially lower.”
The lawsuit continues:
“Accordingly, the repetitive head impacts sustained by NHL players in games and practices exposed them, including the Plaintiffs, to subtle and repetitive changes within the brain on the cellular level. For that reason, the environment within which NHL players have sustained repetitive head impacts exposed them to substantive hazards. Depending on many factors, including the amount of the exposure to repetitive head impacts and the release of Tau protein, the player/victim will develop a range of subtle to significant neuro-cognitive changes over time. The latent injuries which develop over time and manifest later in life include but are not limited to varying forms of neuro-cognitive disability, decline, personality change, mood swings, rage, and, sometimes, fully-developed encephalopathy.”
Outcome Presently Unknown, Claim Mirrors the Complaints of Recent Suit against the NFL
The lawsuit includes data from a 2013 University of Toronto study that found 64.2 percent of concussions in the playing seasons analyzed were suffered on plays where the action was allowed to continue and penalties were not issued.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, seeks unspecified damages to be determined at trial. The players are also seeking court-approved medical monitoring for their brain trauma and/or injuries, which they blame on their NHL careers. The lawsuit cites many of the same claims made former professional football players in their lawsuit against the NFL. In that lawsuit, ex-NFL players sought damages for conditions related to long-term brain damage and CTE as well as future monitoring and medical treatment of existing brain damage.
“The time has come for the NHL to elevate long-term player safety over profit and tradition,” the NHL lawsuit stated.
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