UCLA Bruins helmets during the game against the Oregon Ducks at Rose Bowl in 2014. (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)
Thomas Sullivan, a former UCLA football captain, sued the NCAA and the Pac-12 on Tuesday over concussions he sustained during his college football career.
The former receiver/cornerback/safety filed the class action case in U.S. District Court in Indiana on behalf of himself and all UCLA football players from 1959 to 2010.
He claimed he suffered more than 20 concussions while playing football at UCLA from 1978-83, and the school, under poor regulation from the NCAA and Pac-12, “failed to provide appropriate medical treatment during these incidents.” UCLA is not a defendant in the case.
As a result, he now suffers from memory loss, a decline in cognitive functioning, light sensitivity, anxiety, headaches, and other debilitating issues, the lawsuit stated.
Sullivan filed the case through law firm Edelson PC, which has filed 43 concussion-related suits since May. The law firm filed 18 new suits Monday and Tuesday, and the NCAA dismissed them as “questionable class actions” that are “mere copycats” that similar language as previous cases.
“This strategy will not work,” Donald Remy, NCAA chief legal officer, said in a statement. “The NCAA does not believe that these complaints present legitimate legal arguments and expects that they can be disposed of early by the court.”
The lawsuit alleges that the NCAA and Pac-12 “actively concealed” information about the dangers of concussions “to protect the very profitable business of ‘amateur’ college football.”
“Although Sullivan sustained repetitive concussive and sub-concussive hits in practices and games for their profit and promotion, the NCAA and the Pac-12 failed to adopt or implement adequate concussion management safety protocols or return to play guidelines during his time on UCLA’s football team,” the lawsuit stated. “Accordingly, every time Sullivan suffered a concussive or sub-concussive hit, he would quickly be returned to the field of play.”
As the governing bodies of the UCLA football program, the NCAA and the Pac-12 “owe a duty of care to safeguarding the well-being of its student athletes,” the lawsuit states.
The NCAA adopted a concussion management policy that required schools to develop concussion management plans in 2010.
This season, several UCLA football players have missed time due to concussions, including fullback Cameron Griffin and defensive end Deon Hollins. Both missed more than a month, after suffered concussions during training camp. When safety Adarius Pickett was involved in a big hit against Stanford two weeks ago and came off the field looking wobbly, he later returned to the game. When asked about the incident later, head coach Jim Mora said only doctors could speak on whether Pickett was checked for a concussion on the sideline, but expressed his commitment to taking concussions seriously.
“One thing I can tell you for certain is that we are overly cautious when it comes to head, neck and spine (injuries),” Mora said. “We’re not going to play with head, neck and spine injuries. We’re not going to put these young men in any more harm than they already are playing this sport.”