Stringer, NFL Settle Heat Stroke Lawsuit

Updated January 26, 2008

For the past eight years, Waite, Schneider, Bayless & Chesley has been proud to represent the family of Korey Stringer. A Pro Bowl football player in the prime of his career as an offensive tackle for the Minnesota Vikings, Mr. Stringer died on August 1, 2001, of complications from heatstroke. His death occurred hours after collapsing following a 2½-hour training camp practice wearing a full uniform in extreme heat and humidity. He suffered heat exhaustion on July 30, 2001, the first day of the Vikings’ 2001 training camp in Mankato, Minnesota. While practicing the next day on July 31, 2001, he again suffered heat exhaustion, which progressed into heat stroke. Korey Stringer collapsed on the field and died 15 hours later.

In July 2003, Waite, Schneider, Bayless & Chesley filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Columbus, Ohio, on behalf of Korey Stringer’s widow, Kelci Stringer, against the National Football League (NFL) and Riddell, which manufactured and sold the helmet and shoulder pads Korey Stringer wore when he developed his fatal heat stroke. The suit alleged that the Riddell equipment substantially contributed to Stringer’s heat stroke and that the NFL was negligent in permitting its use during hot, humid weather. On January 26, 2009, Kelci Stringer and the NFL issued the following joint press statement:

“Kelci Stringer and the National Football League announced today an agreement to settle the litigation that Mrs. Stringer filed following the death of her husband Korey Stringer of the Minnesota Vikings. Under the agreement, the NFL will support Mrs. Stringer’s efforts to create a heat illness prevention program for the benefit of athletes of all ages. No other terms of the agreement were disclosed.”

Kelci Stringer’s lawsuit against Riddell remains pending. A 2002 lawsuit against the Vikings’ training camp physician was also settled.