Brain Injury Produces $14 Million Verdict Against Football Helmet Manufacturer
27 Jul 2007
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas, Brownsville Division, Texas, Rodriguez v. Riddell Sports Inc.; Case no. B-96-177; Judge Filemon B. Vela.
A Texas jury ordered a leading football helmet manufacturer to pay $14.62 million in damages for a severe brain injury suffered by a boy during a high school scrimmage.
The verdict is part of a trend on the part of the attorneys for severely injured victims that seeks to find and hold accountable the ultimate causes for the extent of a permanent injury rather than merely looking at the superficial and obvious cause, such as a head impact during a football scrimmage.
Riddell Sports Inc, must pay $9.9 million to Joe Rodriguez, who was 18 years old at the time of the accident, and $1.54 million to his mother. Prejudgment interest makes up the balance of the award, which was entirely in compensatory damages.
The suit alleged that the company, which makes most of the helmets used by high school, college and professional football players, provided the plaintiff with a defective helmet. The claim was bolstered by internal testing that had been done by the helmet manufacturer.
Extensive discovery efforts produced evidence that permitted the conclusion that a safer helmet design was readily available to the manufacturer before the injury occurred.
Rodriguez fell into a coma shortly after his head hit the ground during an Aug. 24, 1995, scrimmage. Rodriguez now can open his eyes and breathe on his own, but he cannot speak, walk or feed himself, Blackburn says.
Riddell claims that Rodriguez's injuries, while tragic, resulted from an existing brain ailment that began to bleed again after the scrimmage. The company maintains the helmet Rodriguez used was safe. These defenses are the basic and traditional ones used in an effort to defeat virtually all product cases: "other conditions caused the injury" and "our product was the state of the art."
Doctors recommended placing Rodriguez in a nursing home, but his mother refused this suggestion. Instead, his mother and his brothers and sisters pooled together $30,000 to add an air-conditioned, sterile room to the family's home for him. The family cares for Rodriguez, turning him every two hours, feeding him and providing for his other basic needs. Rodriguez is the second-youngest of 10 children.
Doctors predict Rodriguez, now in his early 20's, will live another 15 to 20 years. His medical costs will be an estimated $125,000 a year.
The jury awarded $9.9 million to Rodriguez for past and future medical care, wage losses and pain and suffering. The jury awarded an additional $1.54 million in emotional damages to Rodriguez's mother, bringing the total verdict to $11.44 million before prejudgment interest was added.
When the nature of the head injury and the future consequences of it to this young athlete and his family are appreciated the total verdict, although large, is far from excessive. Nonetheless, post trial motions to reduce the amount of the verdict and to overturn it completely have been filed. Unfortunately, these motions are often successful--some courts have a difficult time appreciating the lifetime impact of a devastating disability, such as a traumatic brain injury (TBI).
The competent and experienced personal injury attorney not only has to develop and prove the responsibility of a product manufacturer to the satisfaction of a jury, but he or she must then preserve a favorable verdict in arguments before the trial judge or appellate court.
