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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Valerie Thomas

Dave,

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Thank you for your earlier comment and for allowing me to be an active participant on your blog.

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It’s hard to accept that a union whose efforts that you supported, including financially, would turn against you in your time of need: your  post-football career.

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I know first-hand what it feels like to be ignored and it is even more dehumanizing to have been ignored while looking in the faces of the perpetrators on a daily basis. For example, my basic needs and rights to have access to my job were denied. When I reported to work, I was locked out with no key to get in the front door and no key to access the elevator. Once on the elevator, I couldn’t get off on the floor where I worked. Instead, I could only get off on the floor below mine and had to walk up a public stairwell. During the mornings, when I had to do business on other floors I had to walk up and down the public stairwells. I could not use the elevator like everyone else, including interns and temporary employees. At lunchtime and upon my return from lunch, I had to go through the same routine with no access to my floor and walk up a public stairwell (two sets of 12 stairs = 24 steps each way). In the afternoons, if I had to do business on other floors, I had to walk up and down the public stairwells. NFLPA management and its legal representatives harassed, intimidated and retaliated against me; they dared me to protect my rights and when I did, they then cheated and stole my livelihood and my family’s legacy.

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December ended up being a crazy busy month for Dave: 2 print interviews and 3 radio interviews so far. Dave’s primary focus has been on getting the word out on disability benefits and pensions, as well as answering some questions on the recent Parrish vs. Players Inc. GLA settlement.

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Jeff Pearlman did a story for Sports Illustrated/CNN on Dave’s personal regrets about having played football. That helped generate over a million hits this month for the blog.
Click HERE to read that article.

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Wayne Coffey from the New York Daily News talked to Dave about the sad story of fellow Buccaneers’ teammate Jimmie Giles:
Click HERE to read that article.

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Sirius FM98′s Hardcore Sports Radio interviewed Dave on Dec. 16th:

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Over the past 24 hours, we’ve certainly had a lot of discussions around the old adage “Not seeing the forest for the trees.” In the old way of controlling their spin on all stories about football, the NFL managed to keep all of the television networks and most of the major print media on very short leashes because of their broadcast rights and access to players and managers for interviews. And then the Internet came along. Despite claims of a few who proudly proclaim they invented the Internet and Facebook, this new medium has not only moved the retired football players battle to a new and level playing field; it’s in a different league altogether. Just as the past two weeks have completely caught Tiger Woods and his team of old-school PR flacks like deer in the headlights, the NFLPA and the NFL and their old media machines have been hard-pressed to catch up with a new medium that they can no longer control. The Internet doesn’t belong to anyone and it belongs to everyone.

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As so many of you already know, Bernie Parrish was the original plaintiff in the NFLPA/Players Inc. lawsuit – always was and always will be. And we’ll continue to refer to that case as Parrish vs. Players Inc. I guess some people feel that if you keep trying to spin it another way often enough, people will forget – just like the NFL and the NFLPA. But we did notice that even as contentious as it got throughout the trial, both Jeffrey Kessler and Richard Berthelsen were generally professional and respectful enough to refer to the case as Parrish vs. NFLPA/Players Inc. in their filings. But things deteriorated rapidly between Bernie and his hired attorney, Ron Katz. As a result, you will notice the filings that came out of Katz’s office after a certain point were generally filed as Herbert Adderley vs. NFLPA/Players Inc. Some people have been fed a hook, line and sinker to diminish Bernie Parrish and his years of independent work for all retired players.

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On a quick side note for those of you who were on that final GLA Settlement list, we’re going to emphasize here once again: Watch your mail for the paperwork from Garden City Group over the next week. Some of the guys have already reported receiving their information already. If you don’t receive it by the end of December, be sure to call them at (866) 697-5552 and leave them a message. The folks at Garden City Group will get back to you quickly. It’s possible they might have an old or wrong address for you. Then be sure to send the completed form back to them as quickly as you can (it has to be postmarked no later than Feb. 9, 2009 to qualify). Then put it in an envelope and mail it to this address (by USPS Certified Mail with confirmation so you know they got it):

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President Harry Truman had a sign on his desk that read “The Buck Stops Here.” I always liked him when I was a kid because he was a plain and simple, straight-forward guy who was willing to take full responsibility for solving problems.

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With Apologies to President Harry Truman

The NFL Owners should have signs on their desks that read The Buck STARTS Here because all of the monies generated by the Game start with them and flow through them. The advertisers pay them first and directly, as do the television industry and anyone else who uses the Game to promote their products and/or services.

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“When someone is running a con on you, you won’t be able to stop them until you understand how their con works.”

- Bob Grant

AAA

Valerie Thomas uncovered another perfect example of how the NFL does as little as it can to look like they’re doing a lot. But as with everything else they do – like all those new programs they keep rolling out each year for its retired players – there’s little real substance when you look more closely at each new PR campaign that they announce. The Commissioner just loves stepping up to  announce new programs.

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This summer, the NFL made a big deal about their diversity program under the newly-announced Rooney Rule.

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Would you trust your brain or your money with this man?

We have no idea how anyone missed this little tidbit from the Congressional hearings on brain concussions in the NFL. The media rightfully focused on stirring comments made by former Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ owner Gay Culverhouse regarding the complete lack of advocacy for the players when it comes to brain injuries: The team doctors are hired by the owners and are employed to protect their investment; many of the coaches and owners often play golf with the team doctors in their free time. Tampa Bay Online covered Ms. Culverhouse’s testimony closely and the last paragraph in their story says a lot about just how seriously Roger Goodell plans on looking into brain concussions.

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Culverhouse: NFL doctors aren’t advocates for players

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Valerie Thomas

Valerie Thomas writes a great analysis on the StarCaps case and how it relates to the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) and Congress. The NFL and its owners would love to have its powers expanded stealthily by trying to pull a fast one on Congress. We hope someone calls them on it before it happens!

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The NFL is trying to get Congress to sanction the CBA-negotiated right to be prosecutor, defense, judge AND jury! Commissioner Roger Goodell advocates “narrow and specific legislation that would confirm the primacy of Federal labor law and to respect agreements on this important subject.”

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Valerie Thomas

NFL Players are hired to be fired. When they enter the NFL they’re healthy enough to pass a physical but after performing for their employers and sustaining injuries, they become unhealthy, unable to pass physicals and are eventually cut, fired or forced to retire.

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Each season, there are more than 50 Active players on each of 32 NFL teams (a total of 1600 players) with approximately 704 starting lineup players per week (22 players – offense and defense). Each week, during the NFL season, more than one player will leave the field due to a severe injury. Fans are usually not aware of the seriousness of players’ injuries until the following week’s pre-game hype. The media reports probabilities about participation and make predictions about winning teams.

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It ‘s almost comical when you look at the bill of goods the NFL and the Alumni are now trying to sell to Retired Players and the Public.

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Picture this:

You’ve seen this movie! The crowd in the lynch mob is saying that because they care so much about you, they’re going to now APPOINT some folks to represent you. Meanwhile. they keep braiding the noose, even as they hand out death sentences to many of us and life-without-parole to others. They continue to tell the public that getting hit in the head for years is good for you. What do you think that this Alumni bunch is really going to say or do in opposition to the NFL Owners? Do you think that they’re going to bite the hand that’s feeding them? Do you think that they’d ever take the Owners to Court to try and force them to do anything? Do you honestly believe that the Owners are crazy enough to give the Alumni crowd sharp swords that can be used against them later?

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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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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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