NHL Defeats Class Certification in Concussion Litigation

In a significant victory for our client the National Hockey League (NHL), the federal court overseeing the multidistrict concussion litigation denied plaintiffs’ motion to certify a class action in its entirety. Plaintiffs had asked the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota to certify a class of all living retired NHL players, as well as a class of all retired NHL players who have been diagnosed with certain neurological disorders, to litigate medical monitoring and portions of tort claims against the NHL. The court agreed with the NHL, however, that the retired players’ claims will be governed by the laws of the various states (or Canadian provinces) in which they played or now live, creating individual legal issues that cannot be resolved on a classwide basis.