Former NFL player’s comp claims properly denied: Court
Reprints
A former National Football League player who sought workers compensation benefits for cumulative trauma was properly denied benefits because his petition was untimely, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.
Stuart Anderson, who in the mid-1980s played for the team formerly known as the Washington Redskins, filed comp claims against the team in 2018 and 2019 seeking treatment for hip arthritis that he attributed to injuries and cumulative trauma he developed during his time playing professional football.
An administrative law judge denied the claims as untimely, a decision affirmed by a workers comp review board.
Mr. Anderson appealed, arguing evidence showed he hurt his right hip while working in 1984, which led him to develop arthritis later in life.
The appeals court, in affirming the denial, noted that the claims were time-barred because Mr. Anderson knew about the relationship between his hip problems and the trauma he sustained as a football player, since he began seeking medical treatment for those problems at least four years before he filed the comp claims.
The court concluded that a one-year statute of limitations in Washington would have applied to Mr. Anderson’s claim for medical benefits and that the claims were properly denied because they were filed too late.
