Last fall, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill limiting professionalathletes from receiving workers' compensation benefits inCalifornia if they live and play predominantly outside the state.The bill was proposed to prevent out-of-state athletes from“unfairly targeting” California's workers' comp system. The topU.S. professional sports leagues, led by the NFL, supported thelaw, believing it could save them from exposure to countless claimsfrom injured athletes.
|However, what should have been a victory for the leagues iscoming at a cost, according to The LA Times. Publicity from the high-profile battleover the legislation prompted players from around the country tofile more than 1,000 injury claims just prior to a Septemberdeadline. According to the article, such as huge influx could costthe leagues hundreds of millions of dollars to resolve.
|Almost 70% of the claims filed include allegations of head orbrain injuries caused by repetitive trauma. Most of the athleteswho filed claims never played for a California team and filedclaims based on repetitive injuries they say were sustained in partduring road games played in the state—the kind of claims that arebarred under the new law.
|Read more from Armand Emamdjomeh and Ken Bensinger at The LATimes.
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