Henderson ordered to cover some legal costs of Wideman, Flames

[Jasmine]

So the guy gets hit from behind and is asked to cover the Flames & Wideman's legal fees. And the court says this should be dealt with by the NHL, not the court.

https://www.tsn.ca/henderson-ordered...ames-1.1070003

[Jasmine]

If I remember the event, Wideman was hit and his bell was rung to the point where he probably didn't even realize who was in his way, but in the end, it doesn't matter who it is, the individual was injured to the point where his life has been completely turned upside down and his career is probably .

I feel like the NHL missed out on their duty to support their 'employee" through this. Both medically and financially. This to me is like someone injured on the job...am I wrong?

[Josh]

We don't know that the league failed to meet any obligations towards Henderson. I'm willing to bet they covered exactly what they were liable for, and that Henderson was awarded whatever financial and medical assistance was due to him based on the terms of the NHL's contractual obligations. And that's probably why the lawsuit was judged as overblown and why the standard practice of covering legal fees has been invoked.

I'm not trying to diminish what happened to Henderson. That sequence of events is still so strange to me. I've never seen anything quite like it.

[Jasmine]

We don't know that the league failed to meet any obligations towards Henderson. I'm willing to bet they covered exactly what they were liable for, and that Henderson was awarded whatever financial and medical assistance was due to him based on the terms of the NHL's contractual obligations. And that's probably why the lawsuit was judged as overblown and why the standard practice of covering legal fees has been invoked.

I'm not trying to diminish what happened to Henderson. That sequence of events is still so strange to me. I've never seen anything quite like it.

I assumed they didn't but now that you mention it, you're absolutely right... We don't know that they didn't and we don't have to know that part. All this sounds very messy though, right?

[Josh]

I can’t argue that, it definitely seems messy. There also must be a reason that he and his lawyer(s) thought they had grounds for a lawsuit.