ANOTHER HIT TO BRUCE SUIT

Concussion case ruling upheld

The CFL has won for a second time in court against a concussion-related lawsuit filed by former receiver Arland Bruce.

A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia ruled unanimously that Bruce’s claim for damages for what he said were serious brain injuries related to concussions during his playing career should be heard in arbitration and not in a courtroom.

The ruling released Friday upheld a March 2016 decision by the Supreme Court of British Columbia favouring the CFL, former commissioner Mark Cohon and other defendants, including brain injury specialist Dr. Charles Tator, the Krembil Neuroscience Centre in Toronto and the CFL Alumni Association and its president, Leo Ezerins.

Bruce’s lawyers abandoned the appeal against the other defendants at the Court of Appeal, leaving only the claim against the CFL and Cohon.

The only remaining option for Bruce and his lawyers in the bid to have the claim for damages heard in a courtroom is to seek leave appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, which does not guarantee a hearing before the country’s highest court.

All court proceedings to this point have dealt only with whether Bruce’s claim for damages should be heard in court or in arbitration. The CFL has argued successfully to this point for the latter, saying Bruce had to go through arbitration because he was represented by the CFL Players’ Association during his career between 2001 and 2014.

A class-action claim for concussion-related damages against the CFL with about 200 former players as registered participants was filed in Ontario in 2015. That process remains on hold pending resolution of the jurisdictional issues on Bruce’s claim. gholder@postmedia.com twitter.com/HolderGord