A federal judge in Chicago gave initial approval Tuesday to an amended head-injury settlement between the NCAA and a group of college athletes who sued over the association's handling of concussion. The reworked settlement includes a $70 million budget to examine brain trauma.
The new agreement still needs the approval of the NCAA. It doesn't have any cash settlements for any of the plaintiffs, but it contains new national protocol for players' head injuries. According to The New York Times, the new settlement would prohibit athletes from playing or practicing the day they sustained the head-injury.
One notable change from the previous settlement is that the NCAA should not have immunity against class-action lawsuit on head-injury. This change was requested by United States District Judge John Z. Lee, whose terms for approval contain provision that lets athletes sue NCAA and their university as a class.
Fox News reported that Lee's 53-page ruling states, "To the extent that the Settling Plaintiffs and the NCAA are agreeable to these modifications or are otherwise able to address the Court's concerns, preliminary approval of the amended class settlement is granted." Meanwhile, NCAA's chief legal officer, Donald Remy, in a statement said, "While we are pleased the court has provided a preliminary pathway to provide significant resources for the medical monitoring of student-athletes who may suffer concussion, we are still examining the conditions placed on preliminary approval."
CBS Sports wrote that the litigation was initially filed in 2011 by Adrian Arrington, a former Eastern Illinois football player. He sustained head injuries as a college athlete and claimed that the NCAA neglected to support him with his concussions. Other cases were consolidated with Arrington's lawsuit. He later on rejected the settlement to ensure that other athletes get paid the appropriate medical costs.
In 2010, NCAA implemented a new protocol requiring schools to have a head-injury management plan. Arrington's case revealed in 2013 that NCAA had not supervised these concussion management plans.
