Sam Shaw legal action against AFC

[SuperBashBros]

Sam is taking legal action against the AFC due to the concussion issues he had that has led to his early retirement.

Comes in the same week as Liam Picken retiring due to the same issues.

We also kept Sam on the list for an extra year knowing he wasnt playing to help with his recovery and ability to be covered financially.



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[maxlilly]

Looks like Sam Shaw is taking legal action against the club.
I think the club treated Sam very well, keeping him on the list as a rookie so he would be eligible for the AFL compensation scheme.
Sad when it comes to this I think.

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl...ng-because-of-concussion-20190402-p519x8.html

 

[maxlilly]

Where will it end, will players sue clubs for ACL's and other injuries ?

 

[Scorpus]

Will be extremely interesting to see how cases like this pan out. The results will have significant ramifications for the entire competition

 

[DJ75]

Going to be an interesting test case.

Basically comes down to if the medical staff did their due diligence and have maintained their records.
FWIW I remember the fairly innocuous head knock in the SANFL game that was the last straw. From what I remember the Crows didn't do anything to put him at risk afterwards.

I wonder if we would have a case to counter-sue him for negligence in not completing the rehab and strengthening programs that were recommended to overcome his chronic hamstring issues (I have no idea if this is true or not - but if a player can sue one way, can the club sue in the opposite direction?). Maybe as a professional being paid to be physically fit to perform his job, he has certain expectations. Perhaps we could argue he was paid under false pretences given he was not physically fit for duty?

 

[DJ75]

Where will it end, will players sue clubs for ACL's and other injuries ?

Didn't Rehn already do this?

 

[jo172]

For what it's worth the action will be against the AFC and Doctors in name only, but in effect against the Club's insurers and the relevant Doctors PI insurance.

Similar to the famous Aunt suing her nephew story (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...hew-broken-wrist-lawsuit-homeowners-insurance)

 

[edge of reason]

Didn't Rehn already do this?

Was just about to come in and say that. His case was based around the metal "bounce disc" placed in the center of the oval so the umpires could get a higher/better bounce. From memory he sued the AFL and also the AFC.

 

[NikkiNoo]

Will be extremely interesting to see how cases like this pan out. The results will have significant ramifications for the entire competition

From what I understand the club was very cautious around Sam once he started getting the concussions. The issue is what was known medically at the time as best practice for concussion versus what we know now. Even now we don't know enough about what causes them in some people and not in others with a similar situation.

I think in the case might be similar to the Rehn case where he sued the AFL, the SANFL and the Crows but was settled out of court.

 

[MarcusP2]

Maurice Blackburn running the case. Well known for class actions for shareholders etc. I reckon this is a bellwether for the possibility of future class actions against the AFL, clubs, etc.

 

[mattymac]

For what it's worth the action will be against the AFC and Doctors in name only, but in effect against the Club's insurers and the relevant Doctors PI insurance.

Similar to the famous Aunt suing her nephew story (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...hew-broken-wrist-lawsuit-homeowners-insurance)

Huh? He's suing us for negligence in treatment of his concussion.

Doesn't sound like "in name only".

 

[ams4crows]

Pretty Sure Aaron Keating also sued us for injections we gave him in the 97 grand final

I feel like we went above and beyond for Sam by keeping him on the list so when the CBA chaned he'd get the benefits, so this feels like a bit of a slap in the face.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Pretty Sure Aaron Keating also sued us for injections we gave him in the 97 grand final

I feel like we went above and beyond for Sam by keeping him on the list so when the CBA chaned he'd get the benefits, so this feels like a bit of a slap in the face.

I reckon Blight made Keating go back on the ground in 1999 (insinuating that he was being soft) and it turned out that he had a fractured hip/pelvis

 

[jo172]

Huh? He's suing us for negligence in treatment of his concussion.

Doesn't sound like "in name only".

This is how you get to the insurance policy. The action enlivens the indemnity.

 

[Geoffa32]

Is the legal case a technicality to trigger health care payments?

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[Grooster24]

For what it's worth the action will be against the AFC and Doctors in name only, but in effect against the Club's insurers and the relevant Doctors PI insurance.

Similar to the famous Aunt suing her nephew story (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...hew-broken-wrist-lawsuit-homeowners-insurance)

Saw the headline and this was my first thought. It just the legal avenue they need to take to get to the insurers. I'd expect AFC would full well know this and be working with him in some capacity.

 

[GreyCrow]

I wish Sam Shaw all the best in his recovery

 

[cmndstab]

Gee, I'm hesitant to develop an opinion on this one yet. Gut instinct is to support the club and point out how well they looked after him, keeping him on the list even when he wasn't going to play anymore. But we don't know what happened behind closed doors. It's entirely possible that the club knew they'd screwed up in his treatment and were trying to sweeten things up by keeping him on the list. Concussion isn't one of those things you can afford to muck around with.

Hopefully justice is done, whatever that is. If we really were negligent in our treatment of his concussion, then he deserves compensation. And if not, then this should be thrown out quickly.

 

[GROTTO]

Didn't Rehn already do this?

Im glad Rehn did, it was negligent to have placed a disc in the centre of the ground to help umpires to bounce the ball. That is what actually caused his ACL.

 

[Golumless]

Pretty Sure Aaron Keating also sued us for injections we gave him in the 97 grand final

I feel like we went above and beyond for Sam by keeping him on the list so when the CBA chaned he'd get the benefits, so this feels like a bit of a slap in the face.

That said, we may have kept him on the list for a year as a form of "hush money" due to mistreatment.

Will certainly be interesting to see what happens, especially as on the surface, it does look like we did all we could to make sure he was alright.

 

[Geoffa32]

Gee, I'm hesitant to develop an opinion on this one yet. Gut instinct is to support the club and point out how well they looked after him, keeping him on the list even when he wasn't going to play anymore. But we don't know what happened behind closed doors. It's entirely possible that the club knew they'd screwed up in his treatment and were trying to sweeten things up by keeping him on the list. Concussion isn't one of those things you can afford to muck around with.

Hopefully justice is done, whatever that is. If we really were negligent in our treatment of his concussion, then he deserves compensation. And if not, then this should be thrown out quickly.

End of the day if the club is not doing the right thing in this area it needs to be fixed. And probably already has been.

It is not in the club's interest to lose players to concussion related illness.




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[Tex200]

Pretty Sure Aaron Keating also sued us for injections we gave him in the 97 grand final

I feel like we went above and beyond for Sam by keeping him on the list so when the CBA chaned he'd get the benefits, so this feels like a bit of a slap in the face.

Keeping him on the list for CBA reasons was great, but doesn’t and shouldn’t cover for any negligence during the course of his career.

He’s a young man with a long life ahead of him which will be affected by neurological issues. It’s a massive blow to his life expectations.

There will be many cases like this from the past 5-20 years where the clubs and AFL will be caught cold.

It’s only the players from now forward who will have the benefit of changed rules and improved protocols which will ultimately assist there welfare and limit liability.

The next few years though will see a number of these cases, the facts of which, arose when to little was done

 

[AFC3000]

No I don't think the club/doctors would be assisting him in suing them, you wouldn't take the knock to your reputation and without having any idea at all you would think it's probably not permitted in any insurance policies.

Look I think it's probably a case of he retires, the club, players are all supporting him, leaves on good terms. Fast forward a few years you realise that 45+ mates is really a few good friends and 40 former acquaintances, you are no longer invited to the lunches and golf days, the reality of life after football sets in and the sentiment towards the club fades.

Lawyers have probably been contacting him trying to encourage him to take legal action from day one, finally comes to terms with it and thinks why not.

Hopefully the club did all they believed they could at the time, if there is more they should have known or whatever at the time, I guess we'll find out, but this would be an area that is constantly changing, I can see a case like this opening the flood gates if successful. Obviously I hope he is well and that if the club didn't follow do all they were supposed to he gets the compensation he'd deserve.

Like my thoughts on the Essendon saga though, do players (maybe a service for the management groups) need to take some responsibility as professional athletes and get some opinions from outside of the club networks?

 

[Geoffa32]

Did the SANFL have the same concussion protocol as the AFL in 2016 and prior? The concussion test and minimum 20 minutes on bench.

Could the basis of his claim be that they we didnt follow this protocol in SANFL games however as AFL listed players we should.

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[Scorpus]

Don't have any problem with this and I certainly don't think it's a slap in the face to the club.

The reality is this is a young man who has had his health impacted by his former profession. If there is even a chance that someone, somewhere down the line acted negligently in managing his health, Sam should be entitled to compensation. That's regardless of all the things we did well in managing his condition, including keeping him on the list for an extra year.

He should be doing everything within his legal rights to get compensation and that looks like what he is doing. If he's successful, hopefully what he gains will help him through his life, and our insurance will/should cover it.