On December 12, 2016, the Supreme Court rejected cleared the way for payouts of the $1 billion plan by the NFL to settle thousands of concussion lawsuits filed by former players, starting with those to those who have been diagnosed with brain injuries linked to repeated concussions. Initially filed in 2011, the class-action lawsuit was originally settled in 2013 for $765 million; however, the federal judge overseeing the case was worried that amount wouldn’t cover over 20,000 ex-NFL players covered under the suit, finally revising the settlement in 2015.
Unfortunately, after over a year since the settlement was decided, only a small percentage of those who have made claims have received monetary awards. The company charged with administering the claims process submitted a progress report to U.S. District Judge Anita Brody in November of last year, stating that more than 17,000 players and their families had registered and more than 1,400 had submitted monetary awards claims.
Many of those claims have become embroiled in the administrative trappings, with many former players receiving deficiency notices and others being completely denied. Some of these players say the claims administrator nitpicks the claims, such as requests for more paperwork, and unnecessarily rules them as deficient. However, lawyers working the case claim that these instances are all part of the process.
For players who haven’t seen their money and don’t know how much they’ll see, it appears that there is plenty of blame to go around. Unfortunately, there aren’t many alternatives for these players to receive the compensation they deserve.
For more information, contact our Austin personal injury attorney at The Stewart Law Firm, PLLC today.
