Page 6 - NFL Newsletter September 2020 Lawyers Edition

Published Decisions by the Special Master
We We post all decisions the the Special Special Special Masters designate to be be published on on on on the the Settlement Website (under “Documents” click “Special Master” below “Published Decisions”) Several recent Special Master
rulings that affect Monetary Award Claims are on the site:
Validity Testing and Cause of Functional Impairment In this August 19 2020 decision the Claims Administrator denied the Retired NFL Football Player’s claim based on on concerns regarding performance validity on his neuropsychological testing as as well as as inconsistencies between his reported level of functional impairment and the Qualifying Diagnosis a a a a a a a a PerformanceValidityTheSpecialMaster explained the the two ways that the the Settlement explicitly addresses performance validity First for Level 1 5 or or 2 Neurocognitive Impairment clinicians must include performance validity tests—both embedded and and standalone—in the neuropsychological test test battery These tests aim to provide a a a a a quantitative basis for detecting minimal effort or or or deliberate underperformance Second clinicians must evaluate performance validity by completing the Slick et et al al checklist of nine nine validity criteria criteria Eight of the nine nine Slick criteria criteria require the the clinician to qualitatively assess the the Player’s performance which involves considering whether there are discrepancies between the the the Player’s scores and his observed behavior collateral reports
and documented background history As these are independent requirements passing at least two of the performance validity tests included in in 6
INSIGHTS Lawyers Edition September 2020