10 Former NFL Players Suing League Over Alleged 'Wrongful Denial' of Disability Payments

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According to the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, the athletes are “seeking redress for the wrongful denial of benefits, the denial of statutorily mandated full and fair review of benefits denials, violations of plan terms or governing regulations, and breaches of fiduciary duty.”

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Many of the former players behind the lawsuit allege they had benefits applications denied multiple times, and claim the NFL displayed a “disturbing pattern of erroneous and arbitrary benefits denials, bad faith contract misinterpretations, and other unscrupulous tactics” in regard to disability benefits.

Commissioner Goodell opened up about disability benefits at a Wednesday press conference before the suit was filed when he said that the NFL has to “have a system to be able to identify who qualifies for those benefits and who doesn’t qualify for those benefits, and that’s done with union and management.”

“And the facts are that’s done independently with doctors who make a determination of whether… an individual qualifies under that program,” Goodell said, per multiple outlets.

“So you don’t want people to benefit from it that don’t qualify for it, because it takes away from people who do qualify for it,” he added. “So you’re always going to have people who may think they qualify for it — doctors disagree, the joint board disagrees. That’s a way the system works, but I would tell you the benefits in the NFL are off the charts.”

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The NFL did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

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NFL disability benefits can range from $65,000 a year to $265,000 a year, NPR reported, depending on when and how the sports injury took place.

NPR reported that education and prior training are “not allowed to be evaluated” when determining benefits.

The suit also claims that Sims was approved for Inactive A benefits, despite qualifying for Total and Permanent benefits. One board member claimed the player didn’t suffer his injuries like “‘post-concussive syndrome’ and multiple orthopedic ‘NFL related impairments’” during his time in the league, despite a doctor’s report saying so, per the complaint. Sims was later reportedly denied again in an appeal, added NPR.

The lawsuit is seeking class-action status and monetary compensation while requesting that six board members be removed for their “repeated and substantial derelictions of their responsibilities” and “breaches of the fiduciary duty of loyalty to the Plan.”

source: people.com