The tale of the concussion lawsuits against the National Football League (NFL) is a tragic one. The league is facing more and more claims from former players who say the sport gave them the retirement gift of debilitating brain injury, and that the NFL didn’t do enough to warn them about the risk of concussion associated with playing football. 2,000 of these players unified their suits against the NFL in June, and now the league’s insurance companies want to be nowhere near the lawsuits.
Several Travelers Companies Inc. subsidiaries filed suit against the NFL and other insurance companies on Tuesday, in an effort to avoid paying the league’s defense costs in the concussion lawsuits. This lawsuit comes just one week after the NFL sued more than 30 insurers in an attempt to force them to cover the defense costs.
Travelers claims that it provided liability coverage for the league’s merchandising branch, NFL Properties, but not to the NFL itself. Therefore, it feels it should not have to pay for a joint defense.
"Last week, the NFL filed a comprehensive lawsuit in California against 32 insurers to ensure an orderly and comprehensive determination of its insurance rights and its carriers' obligations," said Greg Aiello, a spokesman for the NFL. "This new filing by Travelers does not alter our objectives."
Read more at Thomson Reuters.
For more InsideCounsel coverage of the NFL concussion lawsuits, see below:
2,000 football players unify lawsuit against NFL
Federal panel ponders merging NFL player concussion lawsuits
