SAN FRANCISCO –– A group of retired NFL players can pursue claims the National Football League illegally supplied players with opioids and other prescription drugs, a federal appeals court ruled.
In the Sept. 6 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court's decision to dismiss the class-action lawsuit.
Judge Richard C. Tallman authored the opinion and judges Jay S. Bybee and N. Randy Smith concurred.
The class of players is represented by Richard Dent, Jeremy Newberry, Roy Green, J.D. Hill, Keith Van Horne, Ron Stone, Ron Pritchard, James McMahon, Marcellus Wiley and Jonathan Rex Hadnot Jr. They allege NFL officials gave them various medications to hide pain, so the athletes could continue playing.
The athletes claim they suffered permanent injuries and chronic medical issues, because of the drugs they were given.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the case, ruling the lawsuit was preempting the Labor Management Relations Act. In addition, the lower court
However, the Ninth Circuit Court judges said the players' claims of negligent hiring and misrepresentation are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement.
In addition, the appeals court did not agree with NFL attorney's arguments that the players did not fully exhaust their grievance procedures.
The judges made clear the court is not ruling the merits of the claims and cautioned the class-action may not survive a summary judgment motion by the NFL in the lower court.