10 ex-NFL players sue league's benefits plan over 'disturbing' denied disability claims
Ten retired NFL players are suing the NFL's benefits plan, the plan's board of trustees and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for allegedly systematically denying disability claims and lying to players in an effort to keep the money instead of distributing it to the people it was supposed to help.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for Maryland, accuses the benefits plan of a "disturbing pattern of erroneous and arbitrary benefits denials, bad faith contract misinterpretations, and other unscrupulous tactics" to deny disability claims of NFL players and minimize the cost of those claims.
"In an effort to suppress disability costs, the lawsuit alleges, the NFL plan — which is jointly managed and funded by the league and the NFL Players Association — routinely steers players to financially biased doctors, some of whom collect hundreds of thousands per year from the plan, and who at exceedingly high rates fail to find players are disabled.
"When players appeal denied disability claims, the lawsuit claims, the plan’s board has ignored federal law requiring them to fairly review all evidence, and instead overly relies on the opinions of these biased doctors, as well as inaccurate case summaries prepared by the plan’s law firm."
Additionally, the complaint alleges that the plan's board and employers would essentially twist themselves into a pretzel to avoid paying out disability claims, applying "illogical and inconsistent" interpretations of the plan's own rules to deny claims.
While the names of all 10 retired players suing the NFL weren't immediately available, former Buffalo Bills running back Willis McGahee, former Cleveland Browns center Lance Zeno and former New York Jets safety Eric Smith are all named plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
"Unfortunately, this is yet another example of the NFL's betrayal of its players once we are no longer on the field and making them money," Smith said via Reuters. "Through this lawsuit, we are bringing these injustices to light and demanding the NFL fulfill its responsibilities to players rather than continue to try to dodge accountability every step of the way."
The suit is also seeking class-action status, so it can represent the thousands of players they believe have been harmed by the benefits plan's alleged actions.
The allegations against the NFL match up with the findings of a Washington Post investigation published Wednesday.
The lawsuit comes the day after the publication of a Washington Post investigation that found the NFL’s disability plan had displayed a pattern of aggressively fighting to deny disability claims and shirking legal requirements to fairly review cases. The Post’s investigation also found repeated instances in which the NFL’s plan seized on technicalities, ignored medical evidence and flouted federal judges to justify denying claims.
Neither the NFL or the NFL Players Association have released a statement about the lawsuit.
