CA Moms Sue Pop Warner After Football Player Sons Die

SAN DIEGO, CA — Two California moms are suing Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc. after both of their teenage sons, who played football for the group, died following a battle with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative disease of the brain that's also been linked to NFL legend Junior Seau.

Jo Cornell of San Diego and Kimberly Archie of North Hollywood filed a lawsuit with the help of attorney Tom Girardi, the famous Los Angeles attorney who represented Erin Brockovich when she sued Pacific Gas and Electric Company in 1993, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Both mothers said their sons died after playing football for Pop Warner for years. Following their deaths, their brains were sent to Boston University scientists who determined both teenagers had CTE. The disease is caused by repeated blows to the head and has been linked to dozens of former NFL players, including Seau, who committed suicide in his San Diego County home in 2012.

The Union-Tribune reported the mothers are accusing Pop Warner of "negligence, fraud, fraudulent concealment and negligent misrepresentation."

"California Ninth District Court Judge Philip Gutierrez ruled that most of the claims in the case against Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc. could move forward to trial, despite attempts by Pop Warner to have them dismissed," the newspaper reported. "The opinions Gutierrez offered in his ruling likely sent shock waves through every level of organized football. He concluded there was sufficient evidence supplied to support a link between playing Pop Warner football and brain injuries, and those injuries could be traced to the 'acts or omissions by PWLS.'"

A date for the trial has not been set.

Pop Warner is the world's oldest youth group for football and cheer with an estimated 325,000 children who participate in their programs.

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