PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — During the NFL concussion lawsuit that recently was settled, there was a new chapter where we learned about an alarming concept that was used in deciding who got paid and who didn’t, or how much they were paid.
It’s called race norming.
"Applying the norms to the NFL concussion settlement meant that Black players basically were, under this recalculation, under this application of these norms, determined to start at a lower cognitive level," Temple University's Beasley School of Law Practice Professor Ken Jacobsen said.
"As a result, when they were being tested for dementia or some of the other injuries for which compensation was available under the NFL concussion settlement, they were unable to qualify for less severe diagnosis because these race norms were applied to their particular claims."
Listen to Jacobsen's full interview with KYW Newsradio In Depth below, which dives into the history of race norming and what happens next with the NFL concussion legal process.
