Pittman, Dutton & Hellums attorney Chris Hellums, along with
Columbia, South Carolina attorney John Nichols, filed a class action lawsuit
against the NCAA last week. The lawsuit claims that the NCAA was negligent in
protecting its football players from the dangers of head trauma and brain
damage from concussions. The lawsuit seeks medical monitoring and damages.
The named Plaintiff in the
lawsuit is Stanley Doughty. Stanley’s story is compelling. A native of Amite,
Louisiana, Stanley was recruited to play football at the University of South
Carolina and did so for three years. Unfortunately for Stanley, he experienced
repeated head impacts which affect him today. He decided to forego his senior
year at South Carolina and signed as an undrafted free agent with the Kansas
City Chiefs.
Before he could even begin
training camp, the Chiefs’ doctors told Stanley that they would not medically
clear him to play on account of injuries he sustained while playing football in
college and that he would need surgery. Thereafter, Stanley was released by the
Chiefs, and has still not received his needed surgery.
Meghan Walsh, writing for The Atlantic magazine, published an
excellent story on May 1, 2013, chronicling Stanley’s life. That story can be
found at this link: http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/05/i-trusted-em-when-ncaa-schools-abandon-their-injured-athletes/275407/
There are a number of class
action lawsuits filed throughout the country against the NCAA on behalf of
former student athletes with similar stories to Stanley’s. There are sharp
differences between these lawsuits but the main allegations are common: the
NCAA possessed information about the severity of concussions, ignored the
information, and took no affirmative action to protect the very people they are
charged to protect.
The Doughty case has received
significant press. Various news outlets in South Carolina and across the
country have been following the story. Click on the links below to read these
stories.
Below is the complaint, in PDF
format, filed on behalf of Stanley Doughty and others similarly situated:
