Ravotti opts out of lawsuit
A Freeport High School graduate and former NFL player named as a plaintiff in a class-action head injury lawsuit against Penn State, the NCAA and the Big Ten cried foul Wednesday, saying the suit was filed without his consent or knowledge.
Eric Ravotti, who was one of three named plaintifs in the suit filed in a U.S. District Court in Illinois, said Wednesday afternoon that he had successfully had his name removed from the suit, and that the claim in his name against the defendants had been dismissed with prejudice, which means he forfeits his right to bring a similar claim in the future. Ravotti said that was deliberate on his part.
“That’s what I wanted,” Ravotti said. “I wanted to make sure the message was sent: I have no interest in taking up a case against the NCAA or against Penn State, now or any time in the future.”
Ravotti of Wexford said he was aware that a suit against the university, the conference and the NCAA was going to be filed, but “that’s as far as it went” until Wednesday when a reporter called requesting an interview on his status as a plaintiff.
“The next thing I know, I’m being joined to a lawsuit I didn’t authorize,” Ravotti said. “All of this was done without my knowledge or consent.”
Ravotti said he had not reviewed the lawsuit and didn’t plan to.
Ravotti, 45, was a football standout at Freeport and went on to play linebacker and defensive end at Penn State University from 1990 to 1994. In 1994 the Pittsburgh Steelers took Ravotti in the sixth round of the NFL draft.
He played three seasons in the NFL, all of them with the Steelers.
Ravotti also coached football at Fox Chapel from 2011 to 2014. He owns an insurance agency in Wexford.
The suit was filed Tuesday by Edelson PC, an Illinois-based law firm, and names Ravotti and Robert Samuels, who played defensive back for the Nittany Lions from 1989 to 1990, as the lead plaintiffs.
The suit asks that a judge appoint the law firm as the lead litigators in a class-action lawsuit against the organizations, and seeks unspecified punitive and monetary damages for what it calls “reckless disregard for the health and safety of generations of Penn State student athletes.”
In the filing, attorney Jay Edelson claims that Ravotti “suffered numerous concussions each year” as a result of games and practices at Penn State, and he “now suffers from deficits in cognitive functioning, reduced processing speed, decline in attention and reasoning, loss of memory, sleeplessness, and mood swings, among other issues.”
Ravotti said the lawsuits claims were “completely fabricated,” and have resulted in a flood of messages inquiring about his well-being.
“I’m in ‘clear my name’ mode now. This has been a nightmare,” Ravotti said. “The whole thing is surreal to me. I keep asking myself: How can this happen? How can someone do this to someone else? You’re never going to get the right answer.”
On Wednesday Edelson confirmed that Ravotti’s name had been removed from the lawsuit. Edelson said Samuels remained as a plaintiff.
Edelson would not respond to Ravotti’s claims that the lawsuit was filed without his consent, citing attorney-client privilege. He said the law firm would issue a written statement on the matter. No statement had been received by this morning.
Ravotti is the second Nittany Lion to have his name removed from the suit. James Boyd, a safety for PSU from 1997 to 2001, was removed shortly after its filing Tuesday.
