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Letting go Stringer's widow might be best off not pursuing lawsuits
In the aftermath of her husband's collapse at the Minnesota Vikings training camp, Kelci Stringer will be hearing things like "wrongful death" and "lawsuit" and "punitive damages." Lawyers and agents, and even some regular people, will tell her she must do something about Korey's death. She must, they will say, send them a message, teach them a lesson. But it takes more than hurt and anger to make a successful lawsuit. The widow Stringer may want to focus on the $2 million array of automatic benefits available to her and to her three-year-old son, Kodie, and avoid the expensive agony of trying to create a liability case where none exists. The only glimmer of a damages lawsuit available to the Stringer family would be some sort of malpractice claim against the team physicians. It's impossible to sue the trainers or the coaches. Even if they were somehow guilty of poor judgment in pushing the players to practice in blast-furnace conditions, there is no case. Like Stringer, they were employees of the Vikings. Throughout the U.S., when you're injured or killed on the job, you cannot sue your fellow employees even if you can show they were careless. Your only path is a workers' compensation case. In order to go beyond that, you must prove intentional or reckless misconduct. To succeed in a damages lawsuit against the Vikings trainers or coaches, the Stringer family would be required to show that the trainers and coaches had no interest in the welfare of the players and were somehow trying to harm them. The team doctor is not an employee of the team, so a lawsuit is theoretically possible. But any case against the team doctor would be difficult. The key factor is the standard of care for team physicians. Did the Vikings medical staff do for Stringer what medical staffs are supposed to do for players in the NFL? Did the doctors miss something in Stringer's physical exam at the outset of training camp? Should the doctors have intervened when Stringer began vomiting? The autopsy might give the Stringer family some bit of evidence to use in a case against the doctors, but it might also show that diuretics or supplements or even steroids were a factor in Stringer's death. This is a can Kelci Stringer would be wise to leave unopened. If she is in doubt, she can ask Donna Harris-Lewis, the widow of Boston Celtics star Reggie Lewis. Harris pursued Dr. Gilbert Mudge and three other physicians in litigation and has little to show for it. (Harris settled with one doctor for $500,000 and two others were cleared of malpractice in a jury trial. The case against the fourth, Dr. Mudge, resulted in a deadlocked jury and mistrial. In a second trial against Dr. Mudge, a jury cleared Mudge of all wrongdoing.) Security for Kelci and Kodie Stringer will come not from a lawsuit, but from the benefits available to them. Under the NFL's collective bargaining agreement, they will collect nearly $1.4 million in life insurance, termination pay, injury protection and annuities. Kelci also will receive $3,000 per month for 48 months and then $1,200 per month for the rest of her lifetime. If Kelci remarries, the monthly payments would go to Kodie. In addition to the union's programs, the Stringers have a workers' compensation case against the Vikings. The maximum death benefit available under Minnesota law is $750 per week. It is available to them for 32 years, for a total of $1.25 million. And it is tax-free. There are also social security payments that will amount to at least $1,500 per month. Above and beyond these payments are any provisions Stringer himself made for life insurance and income protection. It is, of course, the American way to look for someone to sue when tragedy strikes. In many situations, however, the pursuit of a doubtful lawsuit adds another layer of frustration to an already unbearable burden. Sports Illustrated legal analyst Lester Munson regularly holds court on
sports law and business matters on CNNSI.com. The opinions expressed here are
solely those of the writer.
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