Does the CBA Cover Larry Morris?

04.12.13

Larry Morris played in the NFL from 1955 to 1976. He recently passed away after suffering from dementia for over 20 years. Morris, a hard hitting linebacker known as the “Brahma Bull” retired 2 years before the first Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) was signed between the league and the players union.  So how does the NFL’s CBA preemption argument affect an older veteran and plaintiff like Larry Morris?

While Clement acknowledged that this is a difficult issue for the NFL, he stressed a “fundamental difference” between those players who played solely during the gap years, and other players, like the late Dave Duerson, who were in the league before, during, or after these gap years.  Clement also asserted that those players still receive benefits under the most recent CBA.  Meanwhile, Frederick emphasized the fact that these gratuitous remedies are offered to the players do not divest them of a duty owed.

Attorney Eric M. Sable provided an excellent summary of the initial court hearing for the website, NFLconcussionlitigation.com.  He covered some interesting commentary on the burgeoning heady legal aspects of the litigation. For example, in Kline v. Security Guards, Inc. the issue of CBA precedent was addressed.

In Kline, unionized employees brought a lawsuit against their employer for using video and audio surveillance equipment to illegally record them.  The employer argued that the employees’ state law claims were preempted due to the collective bargaining agreement.  However, the court found that the dispositive question was whether the claims required any interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”), and in this case it concluded that because the employer did not cite to any specific provisions requiring interpretation, resolution of the employees’ state claims were not dependent upon analysis of the CBA.  Thus, complete preemption was unwarranted.

Sable also addresses the discussion of CBA gap years. Prior to 1968 and between 1987-1993, NFL players played without a CBA.

While Clement acknowledged that this is a difficult issue for the NFL, he stressed a “fundamental difference” between those players who played solely during the gap years, and other players, like the late Dave Duerson, who were in the league before, during, or after these gap years.  Clement also asserted that those players still receive benefits under the most recent CBA.  Meanwhile, Frederick emphasized the fact that these gratuitous remedies are offered to the players do not divest them of a duty owed.

Check out Sable’s entire piece!