## Facts

- Current and former NCAA student-athletes brought nationwide actions alleging the NCAA failed for years to adopt and enforce adequate concussion identification, removal-from-play, and return-to-play policies.
- The cases were centralized in an MDL in the Northern District of Illinois.
- The parties negotiated an amended nationwide settlement after discovery and mediation.
- The settlement provided (1) a Medical Monitoring Program funded by a $70 million Medical Monitoring Fund projected to operate for 50 years and (2) prospective NCAA concussion-policy changes, including standardized concussion-management plans at member institutions.
- In exchange, class members released classwide medical-monitoring claims and waived the ability to pursue concussion-related personal-injury claims on a classwide basis, while retaining the right to bring individual personal-injury suits.
- Objectors argued the settlement was inadequate and that the waiver of classwide damages was overly harmful to absent class members.
- An earlier order had raised concerns about adequacy of representation because proposed representatives were primarily contact-sport athletes while the class included contact and non-contact athletes; the amended settlement added representatives and proposed subclasses to address divergent risk profiles.

## Issues

1. Whether the proposed settlement class satisfied Rule 23(a) requirements, particularly adequacy of representation, and could be certified (as structured) under Rule 23(b)(2) and/or Rule 23(b)(3) for settlement purposes.
2. Whether the amended settlement warranted preliminary approval under Rule 23(e) as fair, reasonable, and adequate, given the scope of the release and the relief provided.

## Decision

- The court granted preliminary approval of the amended settlement, subject to specified modifications and further proceedings.
- The court conditionally certified the settlement class and subclasses, concluding that numerosity, commonality, typicality, and (with subclassing and additional representatives) adequacy were satisfied for preliminary-approval purposes.
- The court found the injunctive components (concussion-management and return-to-play policy changes) suitable for Rule 23(b)(2) treatment.
- The court found the medical-monitoring relief sufficiently classwide and forward-looking to support certification (as structured), while the carve-out preserving individual personal-injury claims reduced predominance/manageability concerns tied to individualized damages.
- The court authorized notice and opt-out procedures and set the matter for later fairness review after class member participation.

## Legal Principles

- A settlement class must satisfy Rule 23(a) prerequisites, with adequacy requiring alignment of interests between representatives and absent class members; subclassing and separate representation may be required where materially different risk profiles or interests exist.
- Rule 23(b)(2) is suited to indivisible injunctive relief directed at the class as a whole, such as uniform policy reforms.
- Rule 23(b)(3) predominance concerns are reduced where the settlement targets uniform, forward-looking relief (e.g., medical monitoring) and does not attempt to adjudicate individualized personal-injury damages on a classwide basis.
- Preliminary approval under Rule 23(e) is appropriate when the settlement appears within the range of possible final approval after considering litigation risks, the value of relief, and the scope of claims released, subject to notice, objections, and a final fairness hearing.
- Releases must be evaluated in light of the settlement’s benefits and the practical difficulty of certifying and litigating certain claims (including nationwide personal-injury damages) on a classwide basis.

## Conclusion

The court preliminarily approved an amended NCAA concussion settlement and conditionally certified a nationwide settlement class with subclasses, concluding that (with structural protections) the agreement’s long-term medical monitoring and NCAA policy reforms could justify releasing classwide monitoring claims and waiving classwide damages while preserving individual personal-injury actions, pending notice and final fairness review.


In re Nat'l Collegiate Athletic Ass'n Student-Athlete Concussion Injury Litig., 314 F.R.D. 580 (N.D. Ill. 2016)