NFLPA Sued by Retired Players
A new NFL lawsuit has surfaced. This time, the NFLPA has been sued by 28 retired players.
The retired players, including Hall of Fame players Carl Eller, Chuck Bednarik and John Hannah, allege that the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) had no authority to negotiate or agree to terms regarding retirement benefits after the group was decertified on March 11th.
The NFLPA was decertified right before the NFL players were locked out last spring, Yahoo! reports.
Lawyers for the retired players say the suit is not going to affect the collective bargaining agreement that saved the 2011 NFL season, according to Yahoo!.
But, the retired players are seeking compensatory and punitive damages in the amount of $5 million. They are also seeking the right to continue negotiations with the NFL.
They claim that current players interfered with retirement benefits negotiations that cost the retirees.
Lawyers for the retired players say that the negotiations were supposed to be split. The retired players were supposed to deal with issues that dealt with retirement benefits.
But, when the collective bargaining agreement was reached, it seems that the current players negotiated on retiree issues, coming to an agreement with the NFL without input from former players.
Among the named defendants in the case include former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and linebacker Mike Vrabel, according to ESPN.
It's not the first time Brady and Vrabel's names have graced litigation. Brady and Vrabel were also named plaintiffs on an antitrust suit current players filed against the NFL prior to the March lockout, ESPN reports.
Now that the NFLPA has been sued, what will happen if the retiree's NFL lawsuit is successful? Most likely, the retirees will be able to renegotiate certain benefits that the current players had agreed to.
Related Resources:
- Retired players sue Brady, NFLPA (Fox Sports)
- NFL Lockout Lifted by Judge Susan Nelson, NFL Expected to Appeal (FindLaw's Tarnished Twenty)
- Will the NFL Players' Lawsuit Bring Back Football? (FindLaw's Tarnished Twenty)