NFL wants SC brain injury lawsuit of ex-player who killed 6 moved to federal court
A legal battle is brewing not just over whether the NFL failed to provide proper care for ex-player Phillip Adams — who killed six people near Rock Hill before killing himself in 2021 — but where the case will be heard.
The NFL wants to move a wrongful death brain injury lawsuit filed by Adams’ family against the league and S.C. State University to federal court. But lawyers for the family of Phillip Adams told The Herald they anticipated the legal move and will fight to keep the suit in South Carolina state civil court in Orangeburg County, where it was originally filed.
The NFL filed to move the lawsuit to federal court on May 1.
Adams was living with his parents in York County in April 2021 when sheriff deputies say he killed six people at a neighbor’s home then shot himself after police surrounded his parents’ house.
Adams played college football at S.C. State University in Orangeburg and in the NFL from 2010 to 2015 with the San Francisco 49ers, New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, Oakland Raiders, New York Jets and Atlanta Falcons. He was a star at Rock Hill High School before his college career.
The lawsuit
The lawsuit claims S.C. State, the NFL and NFL Properties knew or should have known that Adams engaged in activity detrimental to his safety. It was filed by Adams’ father on behalf of Adams’ minor son, court documents show.
Adams’ family claims in the lawsuit he suffered from concussions and had chronic traumatic encephalopathy — a brain condition sometimes found in former football players that is caused by repeated head trauma.
S.C. State has denied the allegations and agreed with the NFL about moving the case to federal court, court documents show.
Court documents filed by the NFL’s lawyers this week claim a collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players covers Adams’ tenure in the league, so the case belongs in a federal venue. The NFL said in court documents resolving claims by Adams’ family will require interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement because the claims come from allegations of duties the NFL owed to Adams and other players.
The NFL, which was added to the suit in March, has not admitted to any claims made by Adams’ family in the lawsuit and says it’s not waiving any defenses or admitting guilt by wanting a a federal court to decide the suit. It still has to file a formal answer to the actual lawsuit and its allegations.
An NFL spokesperson declined comment Tuesday.
Adams’ family lawyers against federal venue
The family of Phillip Adams is represented by Rock Hill lawyer Craig Wilkerson and Charleston lawyer Gedney Howe.
Both said Tuesday they will argue to keep the civil lawsuit in state court in Orangeburg.
“We anticipated this (federal court move) and are prepared to oppose it,” Howe said Tuesday.
It remains unclear when federal judge Mary Geiger Lewis of the U.S. District Court in Columbia will decide whether a federal court or state court should hear the case.
The 2021 mass shootings
The April 2021 shootings left seven dead: Dr. Robert Lesslie; his wife Barbara Lesslie; two of their grandchildren, Adah, 9, and Noah, 5; and two HVAC workers at the house that day, James Lewis and Robert Shook of Gaston County, North Carolina.
York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson said Adams went to the house and shot all six before later killing himself.
The mass shooting by a former NFL player was covered around the world by the media and was mentioned by President Joe Biden. Deputies could find no motive for the crimes and said Adams legally possessed the gun used in the crimes.
At a December 2021 news conference in Rock Hill, Dr. Ann McKee, a neuropathologist at the Boston University CTE Center, said after examining Adams’ brain the former football player suffered from CTE.
