FILE - Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najeh Davenport (44) sits on the bench during an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks in Pittsburgh, in this Sunday, Oct. 7, 2007, file photo. A federal judge on Monday, March 8, 2021, dismissed a lawsuit that challenged “race-norming” in dementia tests for retired NFL players, a practice that some say makes it harder for Black athletes to show injury and qualify for awards. Davenport was denied an award but would have qualified had they been white, according to their lawsuit. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File) PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit that challenged “race-norming” in dementia tests for retired NFL players, a practice that some say makes it harder for Black athletes to qualify for awards that average more than $500,000.
A hearing had been set for Thursday. The judge instead ordered the NFL and the lead lawyer in the overall $1 billion settlement to resolve the issue through mediation. That process would appear to exclude the Black players who sued.
“We are deeply concerned that the Court’s proposed solution is to order the very parties who created this discriminatory system to negotiate a fix,” said lawyer Cyril V. Smith, who represents ex-players Kevin Henry and Najeh Davenport, and filed a notice to appeal the dismissal late Monday. “The class of Black former players whom we represent must have a seat at the table and a transparent process.”
The demographic factors that doctors consider during testing for dementia often include race. If so, lawyers say, the testing assumes that Black athletes start with worse cognitive functioning than white people — which means it’s harder for them to show a deficit. Both Henry and Davenport were denied awards but would have qualified had they been white, according to their lawsuit.
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Poster Comment:
LOL, "Wokeness" bites itself in the ass.