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Class Certification Denied in Former NHL Players’ Lawsuit

By Tyler Sims posted 07-13-2018 07:36 PM

  

Today, a District Court Judge in Minnesota denied the class certification of thousands of current and former National Hockey League (NHL) players who are suing the NHL for allegedly concealing the harmful effects of head trauma.  The court reasoned there are too many differences in state laws about medical monitoring.  This would make case management extremely difficult as the court would be required to apply a wide range of legal standards.  The class would include up to 5,000 players.

The players’ argument that New York law should apply because the NHL is headquartered there was rejected by the court.  Instead, the court stated the law of the state where a player spent a majority of his career should be applied or, if a player moved around often, the state where the player currently lives.  Interestingly, the court noted that there are players in the class currently residing in Canada and no Canadian court has recognized a cause of action for medical monitoring claims.  The case is In re: National Hockey League Players’ Concussion Injury Litigation, No. 14-MD-2551.

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