NFL commissioner Roger Goodell sued over denied disability claims by ex-players
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Ten former NFL players, including Bills star Willis McGahee and Jets safety Eric Adams, are suing commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL charity game for “improperly denying benefits to disabled claimants.”
Ten former NFL players filed a class action lawsuit against commissioner Roger Goodell, the league’s benefits plan and its board of directors over denied disability claims.
Former Buffalo Bills running back Willis McGahee and retired New York Jets safety Eric Smith are among the plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit in federal court Thursday, accusing the NFL of “repeated lies.” material misrepresentations; active concealment; [and] flagrant violations of statutes and case law, as well as ‘illogical interpretations of terms’ of the league’s benefit plan. With an “undue reliance on conflicting advisers” and a “pattern of systemic bias,” the NFL has improperly denied injury claims to disabled former players, the lawsuit claims.
“Plaintiffs seek to pull back the curtain on behalf of all similarly situated former NFL players, bringing to light many relevant factual and legal issues related to the Plan,” the lawsuit reads, according to CBS News.
According to the plaintiffs, the benefit game board was “motivated by financial considerations to limit the payment of benefits.”
Ten former NFL players have filed a class action lawsuit against Commissioner Roger Goodell (pictured), the league’s benefits plan and its board of directors over denied disability claims.
Former Bills running back Willis McGahee (left) and retired Jets safety Eric Smith (right) are among the plaintiffs.
Other plaintiffs include retired players Jason Alford, Daniel Loper, Michael McKenzie, Jamize Olawale, Alex Parsons, Charles Sims, Joey Thomas and Lance Zeno.
According to the lawsuit, neutral doctors hired by the league’s benefits plan to evaluate injuries were promised additional cases to investigate as they denied more claims. So instead of being ‘neutral doctors’, the doctors are supposedly ‘selected and paid by the Board’.
The Board made no effort to ensure that doctors are, in fact, “neutral and impartial,” according to 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 money for them,” Smith said in a news release announcing the lawsuit. “Through this lawsuit, we are exposing these injustices and demanding that the NFL live up to its responsibilities to players instead of continuing to try to evade responsibility every step of the way.”
The lawsuit aims to recover the benefits that were denied to the plaintiffs.