NHL CUNCUSSION AWARENESS

BY: MICHAEL MCCANN

BTT1O1-08
FOR: MR. RADULOVIC

RIVERDALE COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE

MONDAY APRIL 12 2016

NHL CUNCUSSION AWARNESS

MICHAEL MCCANN

The legal fallout of concussions in sports took a major turn

this evening, as 10 retired NHL players sued the league in the U.S. District
Court for the District of Columbia for failing to protect them from
concussions. The plaintiffs, led by former All-Star Gary Leeman, seek for the
court to certify their class. A certified class would make Leeman v. NHL very
threatening, as it would allow these 10 players to sue on behalf of thousands
of other retired NHL players. If successful in a trial, a certified class could
obtain massive damages, perhaps in excess of a billion dollars.

Leeman v. NHL portrays the NHL as grossly indifferent to

players' health. In various points in the 47-page complaint, the NHL is
described as fully knowing of the dangers to players' neurological health and
then either taking no corrective steps or, worse, making the game more
dangerous. Leeman frames the NHL and its owners as obsessed with profits
and as viewing players as disposable cogs in an economic machine. The
lawsuit hopes to hold the NHL accountable by making it -- and the owners -pay damages and adopt new medical monitoring.

In addition to threatening the league with substantial

damages, Leeman v. NHL threatens an uncomfortable legal process. Pretrial
discovery, in particular, would be worrisome for the NHL. Sensitive
documents about league and team finances may have to be shared, and
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owners and league officials could be deposed by the plaintiffs' counsel under
oath. For a league known for its secrecy, the prospect of a high-profile class
action and private documents becoming public is surely an unwelcome
thought.

NHL Defense #1: Blame the NHLPA

First, the NHL will stress that its health, safety, disability and
pension policies are collectively-bargained -- not unilaterally imposed -- and
that any claims over these policies are preempted by collective bargaining
agreements and NHL player contracts. To that end, the league will highlight
how it negotiates policies with the National Hockey League Players'
Association. Players use the NHLPA as their exclusive bargaining agent and it
is legally entrusted with protecting players. Strikingly, the NHLPA wasn't
mentioned once in Leeman's 13,700-word complaint. The NHL will argue that
Leeman and other players should blame their own union, not the league, for
failing to do its job.

NHL Defense #2: Outdated and non-legal arguments

Second, the NHL will frame the plaintiffs' arguments as failing

to state claims the law can redress. This type of argument could be raised in
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at least two ways. One way would be to contend that the players' claims are
barred by the statute of limitations, which permit courts to redress only
harms that arose in the last few years. Leeman, however, anticipated this
argument and his complaint contends that the statute of limitations are
tolled by the NHL's purported fraud. Whether that argument works remains
to be seen.

Another way for the NHL to characterize Leeman's claims as

not suited for a court would be to say they are moral, not legal claims.
Leeman and the other plaintiffs contend the NHL ignored warning signings
about concussions, failed to implement medical monitoring and in some
cases made the game more dangerous. The NHL will likely dismiss these
arguments as untrue. Even if correct, the NHL might posit, they do not
comprise legal arguments: the mere fact that the NHL could have made the
game safer -- a critique which could be said of any sports league -- does not
prove the league violated any laws.