Have the devil to pay? It’s an old saying derived from the trade bargained for as a result of a misdeed that has come to mean that you’ll have to deal with a huge amount of trouble. Having played for the New Jersey Devils pro hockey team for nine seasons, Mike Peluso’s lawsuit alleges that he mortgaged his health to pay off this particular methuselah.
In a lawsuit Peluso filed against the team on January 3rd in New Jersey federal court, he alleges that the defendants conspired to conceal information from him about his neurological health after he received a concussion (really, numerous concussions) that necessitated hospitalization while playing for the Devils in 1993. Peluso alleges that he was deceived by the team medical staff, which resulted in continued play when he was in a vulnerable state that made him more susceptible to further and significant injury – which he further alleges that he suffered. He also names former general manager Lou Lamoriello, former team doctors Barry Fisher and Len Jaffe, as well as the team’s contracted neurologist, Dr. Marvin Ruderman, as defendants in the suit.
The suit specifically points to an incident during a game against the Quebec Nordiques on December 18, 1993. Peluso sustained a head injury and concussion in a fight with Nordiques player Tony Twist. According to the suit, a report by Dr. Ruderman in 1994 said Peluso “should not sustain any further trauma to his head or he will suffer additional seizures and long-lasting brain damage.”
The court filing claims that following Peluso’s first grand mal seizure, the defendants failed to warn the player or take any actions to protect him. It goes on to state that these medical reports were hidden from teams Peluso played for after leaving the Devils.
In a 2015 interview with NJ.com, Peluso said, “It’s how they threw me out onto the ice. I’d had a grand mal seizure and Dr. Fisher handled the situation and said I was good to go. I heard [trainer] Teddy Schuch say, ‘I don’t think he’s ready,’ but Teddy was overruled by Dr. Fisher.” Currently, Peluso suffers from significant cognitive decline, including early-onset dementia, grand mal seizures, depression and other symptoms, that have been identified with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). His NHL career ended in 1998. Peluso is seeking compensatory and punitive damages in an amount to be determined at trial. If the case goes to trial, Peluso’s main argument depends on verifying that the Devils not only ignored Dr. Ruderman’s 1994 warning about his neurological status, but that they deliberately withheld information from Peluso. He maintains that if he had been aware of the enormity of risk that ongoing play would cause, he would have ended his NHL career then and not continued to play for four more years.
The defendants will likely interpose a defense that Peluso’s suit was not timely filed; that is, a statute of limitations defense. However, Peluso’s allegations that the nature of his injuries were concealed from him could defeat limitations because his cause of action was unknown and not something he could have discovered through diligent inquiry (under the facts in Peluso’s case, it is arguable that diligent inquiry may not have even been possible). If counsel for Peluso can convince the court to allow the case to proceed, then we’ll likely see a settlement at some point in the future. If the case were to go to trial, it certainly seems that modern technology will be in play to demonstrate the nature and causation of Peluso’s cognitive decline. We’ll be watching this case closely as it’s likely to add to precedent for lawsuits involving neurological injury incident to sports.
If this blog caught your interest, read more about the intersection of sport medicine and neuroscience on our recent Blog.