We tend to overlook the fact that Gene Upshaw generally includes VP AFL-CIO as one of his credentials. Recently, we decided to go to the AFL-CIO website (click HERE to check them out) and went over to their Executive Council Members section and found this:
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Dear Commissioner Goodell,
After 25 years of being wrongly denied disability for my family, The Groom Law Group came up with a new type of disability (called Inactive Total & Permanent – T&P) which only pays 35% of what I am actually qualified to receive (Football Degenerative T&P).
As I’m sure you are aware, I applied for the newly-offered plan this spring just before I went in for hip replacement surgery. On June 19, 2008 I was sent a letter from Paul Scott (Benefits Coordinator for the Retirement Board) stating that I was finally awarded Inactive T&P benefits (with reluctance, I’m sure). However, there appears to be little doubt that the NFLPA has once again short-changed my family. Instead of paying a benefit of $3,333.33 a month, I have only received $2,980.60 for each of the months of April, May and June 2008 and only $606.13 for July so far (which actually represents my miserly NFLPA early retirement pension). They are short-changing my family $352.73 a month. As I’ve been on Social Security Disability since 2004, there should be absolutely no deductions or withholding whatsoever. I have written letters to both Paul Scott and Gene Upshaw asking for the calculations involved to arrive at this reduced amount but my requests continue to fall on deaf ears.
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We still haven’t figured out if Gene Upshaw is just plain arrogant or just plain ignorant of the law. Maybe it’s a bit of both after all these years of running unchecked as head of the NFLPA and an officer of the AFL-CIO. And sometimes, there are so many flagrant violations – legal and otherwise – most of us tend to glaze over and miss most of them.
That was the case from way back in February when The Washington Post’s Michael Leahy wrote his piece The Pain Game (click to read the entire piece). But first, a little bit of background: In all of my requests to the NFL and the NFLPA, as well as to their attorneys – The Groom Law Group and Akin Gump – for documents pertaining to my case as well as general documents on the disability plans, there’s always more redacting on every page than a Watergate investigation. And all of it is supposedly done in the name of privacy and confidentiality in “protecting the names and personal information” of those who have applied for benefits.
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Wayne Hawkins put in an incredible 11 years for the NFL, at one point as a teammate with Gene Upshaw as an offensive lineman with the Raiders. Sadly, that’s where the term ‘Team’ ended. While Upshaw went on to become the omnipotent head of the Union, Wayne has been deteriorating physically and mentally as a direct result of the severe injuries he suffered from his NFL career.
At the urging of Disability Attorney, John Hogan, Wayne’s wife, Sharon, recently filed an application for his T&P Disability Benefits. Sharon was gracious enough to allow us to publish her letter to the Review Board. The Hawkins have been good friends and embody everything dignified. Her letter would sway any normal human being with a heart.
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There’s an old saying that the definition of stupid is doing the same thing over and over again thinking that the results are going to be different. You would think that with as many people from inside and outside sources telling him to keep his mouth shut, Gene Upshaw would finally learn to keep his mouth shut. Every time he opens it, his foot seems to have a nasty habit of ending up in there. But after years of running wild with no interference, Upshaw seems to be at a point in his life where he’s above it all; he knows everything and heaven help anyone who disagrees with him. He knows the law, he knows business and he understands how to stay in power at all costs.
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My Disability Attorney, John Hogan, received a letter dated June 19, 2008 from Paul Scott, the Benefits Coordinator from the NFLPA’s Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Players Retirement Plan. The letter states that the Committee qualified me to receive Inactive Total & Permanent (T&P) Disability Benefits (which is supposed to amount to $40,000 a year – or $3,333.33 a month – according to the NFLPA’s published retirement benefits program) retroactive to April 1, 2008 (?!!). My request for Football Degenerative Benefits have been tabled and it is clear that all my documentation was not considered. They only looked at my favorable Social Security award in 2004 and disregarded the fact that I was wrongly denied in 1995.
Yet, Paul Scott’s letter states that my monthly benefit will be $2,980.60 with a retroactive payment of $7,123.41 to cover April, May and June which works out to $2,374.47 a month (?!!). Got that? And since they have a standing order not to take any deductions, 3 months should actually amount to $10,000, NOT $7,123.41! Sheesh!
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Dear Larry -
I received your first letter of May 14, 2008 by overnight courier after we posted details of that anonymous comment that originated from within your law firm. Your letter arrived over the weekend just before I went in for my hip replacement surgery. I appreciated your honesty in acknowledging this activity from one of your staff as well as your taking responsibility for this underhanded attempt to threaten our efforts.
While it fell short of making an outright apology, your letter certainly helped to highlight the ongoing range of attitudes and emotions on the different sides in this long-running struggle of disabled retired NFL players and those who vehemently oppose our efforts. If this gives you a small glimpse into the feelings of just a few people, then I can only hope that you and others might begin to understand what it will take to bring everyone to the table to resolve this issue once and for all. While there may be a few who have ulterior motives and agendas, we truly believe that most people understand and empathize with those of us who have sacrificed everything for the game in the past to make football what it is today. Whenever our story gets heard, the general opinion is a resounding ‘Why? Why is this happening to the men who helped to build this sport when the business grosses billions every year even as rookies continue to get signed up for multimillion dollar contracts even before they hit a field?’
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Bernie Parrish has a common-sense proposal that he’s compiled in a simple outline that’s easy to understand. It speaks for itself so hereit is in its entirety:
Guys: I sent this to you a month or so ago and I sent it to many congressional staffers, Representatives and Senators. I’m about to send it again so if you have anything to add or change, please let me know.
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USA Today ran a story today about Gene Upshaw making his PowerPoint pitch (complete with laser pointer – WOW!) for the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) after the NFL owners voted to opt out of it by 2011. Read the entire article by clicking HERE.
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As most of you now know, Disability Attorney, John Hogan, has taken charge of preparing and submitting my re-application for my T&P Disability Benefits from the NFLPA. I can’t speak highly enough of him and after receiving the following note from my friend, Tony Davis, we’ve all decided to provide John’s contact information on a post for the benefit of any other players who may be also looking for a great disability attorney. (This is completely unsolicited and based on our collective opinion of John’s work.)
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You sure get to spend a lot of time thinking about a lot of things while you’re lying in a hospital bed recovering from surgery. I have to tell you that the good folks here at the Sunrise Assisted Living facility are making sure that my recovery stay has been absolutely first-class.
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Yesterday, I got an encouraging letter forwarded to me from my disability attorney, John Hogan. As most of you know, John has taken on the task of reviewing and preparing my new application for my T&P Disability Benefits from the NFLPA. As part of his process, John is gathering more professional support to back up my case. The letter he sent along is from Earl Thompson, of Integrity Rehabilitation & Testing, and it’s based on his interpretation of a letter that Dr. Hugh S. Unger (the doctor assigned by the NFLPA) had submitted during my application for benefits way back in 1995. (Click on letter to enlarge for reading.) continue reading »
This is a little strange. No sooner than we’d posted up that cute comment about Slander on Thursday afternoon, this 2-page Overnight Letter from Larry Lamade at Akin Gump arrives at my door early on Saturday morning.
There’s quite a bit of detail about my specific application to re-apply and – hopefully this time – get qualified for my Disability benefits. We had my now officially-retained attorney, John Hogan, review it and we made a decision to post it up as a way of helping some of the other players out there who have been just as confused about all these new changes and proposals. (I’m not sure if anyone out there actually knows everything about what’s going on.)
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Well, after a couple of weeks of sifting through files and shuffling paperwork, I assembled a stack of documentation that was almost 5 inches high. All of this should be more than enough to satisfy our friends at the NFLPA for my re-application for disability benefits. Just to make sure that everything was properly documented, I sent the entire package over to Disability Attorney – and good friend – John Hogan for review. I sent the package off by USPS Priority Mail late Wednesday so John should be receiving it either this Friday or Monday early next week. I can only hope that they don’t kick it back once again for providing them too much information (as they actually did once before in a prior application!).
As I prepare for my hip replacement surgery next Tuesday, we’re making plans to continue blogging with my notebook computer from my hospital bed for the next three weeks. We’re still hoping to be able to post pictures from my surgery and from bedside during my recovery.
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We want to extend a firm, hearty congratulations to you, the NFL Draft Class of 2008. It is our hope that you have a successful and safe NFL career. Let us emphasize the word safe. As most of you know — or we hope know — there have been thousands who have played this game before you. The history of the NFL extends back before The Second World War and some of the greatest athletes this nation has ever produced have played in the National Football League; perhaps you will be one.
We hope that once you sign your name to a contract and receive your bonuses, you can pause just a moment before you deposit your check and remember those who worked to give you this opportunity. Those who played for thousands of dollars a year — not thousands of dollars a week — they gave you this day. We hope that you remember those who were this league’s guinea pigs and played their entire careers on artificial turf and now use walkers or wheel chairs to get from room to room.
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