Ex-England Rugby Star Accuses Law Firm Of Pressuring Him To Join Brain Injury Lawsuit
By Priscilla Jepchumba
Former England rugby player Will Green claimed that he was pressured to deny having early-onset dementia and was coerced into joining a legal case against rugby authorities. He had a successful career with Wasps and Leinster and represented England four times.
Green underwent a brain scan offered by Rylands Garth, who is leading a lawsuit for rugby players experiencing brain injuries against World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union, and the Welsh Rugby Union.
“He showed me four dots on the graph which purported to be my brain, and he said, without a lot of compassion, ‘It looks like you have the signs of early-onset dementia.’ My world fell into an absolute spiral,” said Green concerning his conversation with the doctor.
The company, which is representing former Wales rugby player Gavin Henson and 2003 Rugby World Cup champion Steve Thompson, took legal action against Green and demanded payment of thousands of pounds to cover legal and medical expenses when he declined to participate in the lawsuit.
The ex-player, Green, was pursued to join a legal action without having access to necessary neurological reports to support the diagnosis. After seeking a second assessment, it was revealed that there was no evidence of brain injury.
Despite declining to join the lawsuit, Green received invoices for legal and medical expenses and was eventually taken to court. Green stated in a court filing that they were repeatedly urged to join the lawsuit despite their reluctance.
“To do so would have perpetrated a fraud on the court because the claimant’s medical experts’ diagnosis was found to be wrong. Yet, despite this, the claimant still tried to pursue me to sign up to the group litigation,” said Green.
“If a medical report was drafted, the claimant’s medical testing and/or report is fundamentally wrong in finding brain damage,” he added.
He then told the court: “I just think they (Rylands Garth) have behaved appallingly and I would go as far to say that I am not the only person involved in this.”
Rylands Garth represents 900 claimants with brain injuries from sports. They clarified that claimants weren't asked to pay for testing. Mr. Green disagreed with the test results, left the action, and was asked to pay costs. The Solicitors Regulation Authority will investigate the case before taking the next action.
