Northwestern finalized a $16-million dollar settlement Monday with the family of deceased Northwestern football player Rashidi Wheeler in Cook County Circuit Court. It could end the school’s four-year court battle with Linda Will, Wheeler’s mother and is the largest wrongful-death settlement for a single male under 30 in Cook County history.
Wheeler, 22, collapsed during an illegal workout while participating in an NCAA-banned conditioning drill Aug. 3, 2001. Wheeler’s parents filed a lawsuit against NU about three weeks after Wheeler’s death, claiming the university failed to provide adequate medical attention after Wheeler’s collapse.
Cook County Judge Kathy Flanagan first ordered the settlement Aug. 15. Monday’s hearing finalized the wording of the settlement and a dismissal of the case.
Hearings on attorney fees and settlement allocation are scheduled to begin Sept. 26.
Will’s attorney appealed the settlement when it was first ordered in August. The state appellate court struck down Will’s first appeal Aug. 31. Her attorney’s are still pursuing alternatives.
Lawyers on behalf of Will, who did not attend Monday’s hearing, and the Wheeler estate reiterated that Will would not accept a settlement and she was being “denied her day in court.”
“She will never accept this offer,” said Benjamin Nwoye, attorney on behalf of the Wheeler estate. “You will not see her name signed. For a woman who lost her child, there is no amount of money.”
Will was present at a Sept. 6 hearing, when she was removed from the courtroom because of disorderly conduct. She was not present at Monday’s hearing. Will’s attorneys declined to say why, stating only that she was present through her lawyers.
Flanagan has maintained that the settlement is in the best interest of Wheeler’s surviving siblings. The Chicago Tribune reported that Will’s ex-husband, George Wheeler, Jr., and a court-appointed guardian for the minor children of the estate both favor the settlement.
“Money in the hand is worth more than a jury verdict lost,” Flanagan said in court Monday. “Many of the things that Ms. Will has continued to insist upon are things that the justice system cannot give her and can never give her.”
Gary Moore, attorney for Next Proteins, Inc., said he believed the settlement amount was excessive and the company felt NU was buying its way out of responsibility.
“In essence, Northwestern is making an attempt to resurrect its already soiled reputation by paying an excessive amount of money,” Moore said.
Wheeler died of exercise-induced asthma, according to autopsy reports. But the university blames the death on NCAA-banned supplements containing ephedra that Wheeler took the day of his death. NU is currently pursuing a third-party complaint against Next Proteins, Inc., the supplement manufacturer.
The settlement is 22 percent higher than any settlement in similar cases.
If anything, the settlement amount is too low given Wheeler’s NFL prospects, Nwoye said.
“The sum is not excessive when you consider that this man was only 22 when he died on the field of Northwestern,” Nwoye said in court. “Most players would get ($16 million) as a signing bonus.”
Flanagan said the amount was reached based upon Wheeler’s age, education, health, athletic prospects and what he would have been paid on a professional athletic level.
Alan Cubbage, NU vice president for university relations, said the settlement was in the best interest of those involved.
“I don’t think there would have been any new information that would have come out of this case going to trial,” he said after the hearing. “But there would have been a great deal of expense and a great deal of bitterness.”
But Cubbage maintained the university’s lack of liability, stating in a prepared statement that the university continues to support the actions of its athletic staff.
The Daily’s Breanne Gilpatrick contributed to this report.
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