Retired Players Seek To Refile Case Against NFLPA In State Court

Attorneys for a group of retired players suing the NFLPA for failing to represent them properly in licensing asked a federal court last week to dismiss the case so it could be refiled in a state court. The California federal court had placed what the group saw as an unrealistic timeline on certifying a class for the case, and as a result the monetary damages sought by the named plaintiffs does not exceed the $75,000 required for the case to proceed.

“The Court’s order ... to set a class certification briefing schedule, effectively precludes the instant case from proceeding forward as a class action,” the law firm Blecher & Collins wrote. The court, the firm wrote, could exercise discretion to allow the case to continue. But if it does not do so, the plaintiffs asked for the case to be dismissed without prejudice to it could be refiled in a state court. The named plaintiffs are Bob Grant, Bernard Parrish, Clinton Jones, Walter Roberts and Marvin Cobb.