Dave Pear's Blog

Moran vs. NFLPA and NFL Players Inc.

Does the NFLPA think the same way about you?

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Valerie Thomas

Former NFLPA Director of Human Resources Mary Moran is at WAR against the NFLPA and she is taking no prisoners. In August 2009 Moran filed a $4 million lawsuit that claimed sex discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination of her employment in violation of public policy because she participated in a DOL Office of Labor Fraud and Racketeering investigation of the NFLPA. Moran claimed that the actions of NFLPA management created serious and troubling ethical concerns for her. General Counsel Richard Berthelsen called Mary Moran “a necessary casualty.”

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In our last post – Valerie Thomas: Life Under Upshaw – former NFLPA Research Analyst and Paralegal Valerie Thomas discussed her years of abuse and violation of her employee’s rights under the heavy hand of departed Executive Director Gene Upshaw and his inner circle. Bob Grant had posted several questions to her in the comments section about the toll from her long battle with the NFLPA and how it has affected her and her family over the years. This is Part 2 of Valerie Thomas’ story.

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We hope your legal team is reading this blog, Mr. Smith. You owe Valerie Thomas big time!

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Bob’s Questions:

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In January 2009, four Congressmen signed and sent a letter to the Department of Labor about concerns of the integrity of the NFLPA election process. At the behest of his daughter Mary, Congressman Jim Moran looked into the matter.

SPACE

According to a Sports Business Daily article in January 2009, Congressman Jim Moran was the first “Whistleblower.”

SPACE

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It just finally really sank in that Gene Upshaw’s widow was apparently paid a $14 million lump sum directly out of the NFLPA’s bank account when he passed on to a new life (!). As a businessman, I started wondering why that money was paid directly out of the NFLPA’s coffers and not by an insurance policy that they should have had in place for a key employee like most normal businesses usually have? With any of the businesses I’ve started over the years, my investors typically sleep better knowing that there’s an insurance policy on my life to allow the Company to replace me as CEO in case something happens to me. And I also typically negotiate a separate policy that will provide for my family as part of the package. This happens in businesses across the country every day, regardless of whether they’re privately held or public companies. This is common business practice and I doubt if even Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, would argue with that.

In other words, even if a $14 million policy cost as much as $250,000 a year (which it wouldn’t), it would still have made prudent business sense rather than self-insuring such a large payout. At $250,000 a year, it still would have taken 56 years (!) to pay out $14 million in annual premiums so it would have been a no-brainer decision. You would think that with brilliant business advisors such as Richard Berthelsen and Mary Moran in the executive offices, someone would have stepped up and said, “Gee, we need to put an insurance policy on the Executive Director in case something happens to him.” Or “Gee – Gene wants a $14 million payout to his widow when he dies. Let’s get an insurance policy now!” So why didn’t that brilliant Human Resources Director Mary Moran – paid nearly $250,000 a year for her “smarts” – think of it instead of spending her time sneaking around the NFLPA offices pretending to be an important undercover snitch? And how likely is it that the master of legal obfuscation, Richard Berthelsen, didn’t have a hand in crafting the legal contract that handed $14 million to Gene Upshaw’s widow in one lump sum rather than having it covered by a simple insurance policy (that they likely couldn’t get)? As in all conspiracies, it always comes down to, “What did they know and when did they know it?”

We posted the 2008 LM-2 a while back (click HERE and HERE to read those posts) and discovered that the NFLPA had liability insurance that covered the $5 million+ cost of litigation in the Players Inc. trial. So most of Jeffrey Kessler’s legal fees were paid out of an insurance policy that was put in place just for that purpose. That’s why you have insurance.

This is all conjecture at this stage but a $14 million payout is simply that – a WHOLE lot of money. One thing that DOES come to mind is the possibility that Gene Upshaw either already KNEW he was ill (which would have automatically made him uninsurable) and didn’t disclose it to anyone outside of his inner circle. Which would also mean that several people would have been involved in covering up this deception to defraud the NFLPA membership out of $14 million. Or – worse yet – if the NFLPA basically self-insured Gene Upshaw without full and honest disclosure, would that make the payout fraudulent and reversible? And who should be held accountable? If it had been underwritten by any insurance company instead, I think we’d certainly see them conducting a very serious investigation before they paid Mrs. Upshaw one dime. And even though the retired players still have no vote in their own Union, ALL players should be demanding an open and transparent disclosure and review of  ANY agreement to pay out $14 million of YOUR money. With Executive Director DeMaurice Smith publicly instructing active players to start pinching pennies to prepare for a potential lockout next year, was paying out $14 million in cash a good example to set at a time like this?

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Here’s why we’re so excited about Dr. Amen’s offer to provide free brain scans which will be included in his upcoming study of football concussions. Many of you guys have already signed up but if you haven’t done so already, click HERE to read that earlier post and sign up right away – this offer is currently limited to the first 100 players to join the study!

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Over the years, the NFL has continued to do lip service about all those studies they’re supposed to have been conducting on brain concussions and injuries that most players sustain over their careers. But just like the calls for an open audit of their books, few people seem to have been privy to all of the the studies that they’re supposed to have collected. In the past, we’ve also pointed out that among other “studies”, the NFL apparently also has actuarial numbers on all of the players that were provided by a subsidiary of AON Corp. headquartered in Chicago. Some of the principals in AON Corp. also happened to be owners of the Chicago Bears – read some of those earlier posts by clicking HERE. You’ll be directed to a series of earlier posts on AON’s relationship to the NFL – including this one at the top – just keep scrolling down to the other posts below. Among other things, those actuarial numbers have been used to calculate just how much they hold back from you for your surviving spouse policy on your retirement benefits (And who has actually seen their paperwork for THAT policy? Isn’t all of that called a Conflict of Interest in any other business?).

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Here’s your personal invitation from Dr. Kristen Willeumier from the Amen Clinics to arrange an appointment to receive your free brain scan for their new study specifically focused on NFL football players’ concussions. NOTE: This study is completely independent of the NFL and the NFLPA.

For the past 20 years, Dr. Daniel Amen has led a dedicated team of medical professionals to help people overcome depression, anxiety, ADHD, memory problems, brain injuries, weight problems, and more. The Amen Clinics uses sophisticated brain imaging tools for a more thorough and accurate diagnosis. We use all the tools available to us to help optimize the brain, including natural supplements and medications to help people live happy and productive lives.

The Amen Clinics in Newport Beach is currently conducting a study investigating the effects of mild traumatic brain injury in professional football players. Using sophisticated imaging techniques our goal is to visualize the brains of NFL players to characterize the damage incurred by playing professional football. We will also utilize neurocognitive exams to identify any underlying deficits in memory. Following the initial tests, the player will meet with Dr. Amen personally to discuss the results and he will recommend a specific protocol of nutritional supplements for that player to help optimize his brain health. We invite the player to return to the Amen Clinics following 2 months on the protocol to see what progress has been made. This entire process is at no cost to the player. We appreciate their participation in this groundbreaking study and the Amen Clinics is dedicated to providing those players who have dedicated their lives to football with an opportunity to bring their brains to a healthier state!

If you are interested in participating in this study or if you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact Dr. Kristen Willeumier (949-266-3703) at the Amen Clinics (click HERE to visit their website).

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Jane Arnett, co-chair of the 2010 Independent Retired Players Summit, spent years as a corporate recruiter. Mary Moran’s exceptionally high salary $240,000-a-year as the Director of Human Resources at he NFLPA piqued her interest. Of course, it probably had nothing to do with being Congressman Jim Moran’s (D – Michigan) daughter.

After years in the executive search business, my immediate impression months ago of Mary Moran’s salary was that it was MUCH more than made sense. Just a quick Google search verified it. And remember… these salary averages are probably companies of several hundred of employees, companies with only a few dozen don’t usually have a dedicated HR manager, so a firm (union?!) of 100 employees would be near the bottom of the scale. When I heard what Mary was making I KNEW there was probably “funny business”. When we heard how Troy Vincent was undermined and how it came about, her salary became a VERY interesting commentary.

(Click on the graphics below to go directly to the CareerBuilder and PayScale sites to compare salaries by region for HR Director positions.)

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A few months ago, the media reported that newly-elected NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith had returned to D.C. from another road trip meeting with active players, only to find his office engulfed in flames. (Read that post from June HERE.) Apparently someone had left a candle burning in an adjacent bathroom late at night while the new boss was away… (?!!!) It seems that a lot of old Gene Upshaw memorabilia may have been damaged or destroyed in the fire.

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So now more news comes out to confirm that Mary Moran, the NFLPA’s highly-paid Director of Human Resources, had been placed on suspended leave  – WITH pay – a few weeks ago. Moran, daughter of Congressman Jim Moran (D-Michigan), filed a tell-all discrimination lawsuit for $4 million last week against the NFLPA and apparently also had Daddy kick off an investigation by the Dept. of Labor. While we’ve only seen snippets of the lawsuit, we understand there’s something on pretty much everyone in the lawsuit. Looks like Moran is now taking a scorched earth approach to her departure. (Read the coverage on Sports Business Journal HERE.) Talk about burning all your bridges behind you as you leave.

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NFLPA's Revolving Door

A Call for Transparency and Accountability

NFLPA PAYS OUTSIDE STAFFING AGENCIES $304,610 in Four (4) Years

The NFLPA Human Resources (HR) Department

The following information was compiled from the U.S. Department of Labor, Federation of Professional Athletes (FPA), NFLPA, Labor-Management (LM-2) reports for Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 through Fiscal Year (FY) 2009.

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4/17/2009
Subject: Madden not paying retired players while collecting over $100 million in royalties off the retired players’ backs – Did Madden scramble your identity to keep from paying you?

The retired NFL players who were used in Madden EA video games will be suing Madden and EA for using us in those games without compensating us. Madden’s agent Sandy Montag boasts he and Madden collected over $100,000,000 in royalties while paying the retired NFL players used in those games absolutely nothing. Madden knows that the ugly truthful litigation is coming and is probably factoring that into his retirement. I doubt he wants to answer all those fans who will be asking, “Why, John Madden? Why did you screw all those retired players over, you seemed like such a friendly, good-natured buffoon?”

We probably won’t use Manatt Phelps and Phillips and McKool Smith, the attorneys who obtained a $28.1 million verdict for us against the NFLPA for “scrambling retired players identities” in those video games. The jury found it a “grossly fraudulent” action taken so they wouldn’t have to pay the retired players. That case Parrish v NFLPA Case No. 07 0943 WHA carries $21 million in punitive damages and is being appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which doesn’t mean the decision has been overturned nor does it lessen the verdict found by the jury. In my opinion, Madden should have been included in our licensing suit against the NFLPA and so should Electronic Arts.

Irregularities in the trial may even bring about a retrial that will allow the award to be in the $100+ million range where it should have been instead of only $28.1 million. The case is already being retried in the media by Richard Berthelsen and Jeffery Kessler. Regardless of their propaganda, the case has nothing to do with the issue of the number of high profile players not signing what the Judge William Alsup calls a “masterpiece of obfuscating.” That “masterpiece of obfuscation” is the Group Licensing Agreements (GLA) drafted by the NFLPA’s Richard Berthelsen and Jeffery Kessler. The “grossly fraudulent obfuscation” – that GLA – is the issue that lost the NFLPA the $28.1 million. Our side of the trial was warned by Judge Alsup that if we talked to the press about the case he would hold us in contempt. On the other hand, Berthelsen and Kessler seem to be exempt from spinning their previously defeated arguments to try to win them in media articles before the 9th Circuit Court hears the case. Worse yet, they’re now using publications where they have spent over $281,000 over the last several years for NFLPA advertising. So they’re not only retrying the case in the media, they’re actually paying the media to retry the case as an advertisement in the court of public opinion to try to influence the 9th Circuit Court. Are those actions contemptuous? It seems to me that most of what they do is contemptuous. Rigging a union election is contemptuous and it is also illegal.

2,062 retired NFL players participated in our lawsuit with only 12 retired players opting out, 10 of whom work for the defendant – the NFLPA. That’s an amazing vote of endorsement by the retired NFL players.

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The University of Baltimore School of Law held their first Annual Sports Law Symposium today. This year’s conference was From Rookie to Retirement: The NFL Universe in the New Economy and you can read the agenda on their site HERE. Here’s a list of the speakers (the usual suspects) and their topics:

• Trace Armstrong, CAA Sports | Preparing the Rookie: Pre-Draft Prep
• Pat Moriarty, Baltimore Ravens & Tom Condon, CAA Sports | Negotiating the Contract and Salary Cap, Now and in the Future
• Richard Cass, President, Baltimore Ravens | Luncheon Keynote Speaker
• Harold Henderson, NFL Legal Counsel & Richard Berthleson, NFLPA Legal Counsel | The Future of the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement
• Andrew Brandy, nationalfootballpost.com & Tony Agnone, EAS | Negotiating the Second and Third Deals
• Sarah Gaunt, NFLPA Pension Plan & Doug Ell, the Groom Law Group | NFL Player Benefits: What’s Next?
• Howard Skall, CAA Sports & Kristen Kuliga, Agent for Doug Flutie | Player Marketing in the New Economic Reality

We highlighted some of the names that should be very familiar to may people by now. And some of the relationships are very interesting. Trace Armstrong is now one of the three finalists for Executive Director of the NFLPA and is currently working for CAA Sports. So is superagent Tom Condon, who also happens to be on the Benefits Committee of the NFLPA. Harold Henderson and Richard Berthelsen – what else needs to be said? And of course, Sarah Gaunt, who is supposed to work for the NFLPA Pension Plan and its members.

We’re writing about this symposium for a couple of reasons. One is to point out that – once again – retired players had absolutely no voice to discuss the reality of retirement after life in the NFL. The other reason was to post a quote from Sarah Gaunt, Director of the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Retirement Plan: “When these guys become has-beens, they are permanently has-beens.” In all fairness, it was apparently a quote of a quote originally attributed to the departed Gene Upshaw and probably her feeble attempt at humor.

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It’s been all over the media this past week that the candidate list for NFLPA Executive Director  has been narrowed down to three choices: Troy Vincent, Trace Armstrong and DeMaurice Smith. Other than the fluffy short bios that nothing more than standard NFLPA Press Releases, what do the majority of the players really know about these finalists? So far, all most people really know about these three finalists is that Troy Vincent had managed to fall out of favor with Gene Upshaw by bringing up the idea of a succession plan to replace Upshaw. Then there was the recent drama of NFLPA Director of Human Resources Mary Moran calling her Daddy Congressman Jim Moran to “investigate” Vincent’s alleged communications with several other Congressmen about the convoluted process of selecting a new Executive Director. Apparently, a lot of well-paid Upshaw insiders are really worried about keeping their cushy jobs so the choice is going to be very important for them (but shouldn’t be any of their business). But other than the drama and internal office politics, there’s little else that seems to have been made public about the process and the candidates themselves.

Considering the recent Presidential election in which the candidates were vetted in minute detail on a daily basis by everyone in the general media as well as online, the lack of information and transparency should make anyone leery of the entire process. What do we really know about any of these three candidates? Are any of them successful businessmen? Have any of them actually worked for any length of time in the private sector? What does each of them understand about the law, particularly as it pertains to labor, unions as well as benefits and retirement plans? Has any term limit been set for this position or will it be another lifetime appointment – er, election. What are their positions on retired players and representation? And most important of all: Why are they running for Executive Director? There have been no public forums, debates or speeches. If each candidate at least wrote a summary of who they are and what their plans are for the NFLPA and all of its members, we would at least know that they passed English 101 in college. We don’t even know that much at this late stage.

Inquiring minds want to know.

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This just in: It’s now getting out that Congressman Jim Moran (D – Va) was the person responsible for outing Troy Vincent as the source that kicked off that recent Congressional inquiry into the Executive Director search process.

“According to Liz Mullen and Daniel Kaplan of SportsBusiness Journal, Vincent spoke with at least two of the four Congressmen who sent a letter to former U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.

Vincent was outed by Jim Moran (D-Va.), a member of the House of Representatives.”

Check out the rest of Mike Florio’s coverage on ProFootballTalk (PFT) by clicking HERE. (And check out some of the comments about Moran.)

And THIS just in now from the International Herald Tribune as well. Looks like they want to pin everything on Troy Vincent. Which means he just might be the best real candidate for the job! Read the Herald Tribune‘s story by clicking HERE.

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