Suspended Bengal Thurman Files Complaint To Fight NFL Ruling

Thurman Files Complaint To Fight NFL Suspension

Suspended Bengals LB Odell Thurman has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, "asserting that the [NFL] declined to reinstate him because officials believe he is an alcoholic," according to Judy Battista of the N.Y. TIMES.  The case "could challenge the sweeping powers the league has to discipline players with substance-abuse problems." Thurman, who was first suspended for four games at the start of the '06 season for violating the league's substance-abuse policy and later had it extended to a full season after a DUI arrest, said in his complaint that the suspension violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, which "categorizes people as disabled if they have a record of alcoholism and have received treatment." Thurman's lawyer John Michels said, "This is the functional equivalent of telling somebody that you believe has cancer, we're not going to employ you." Michels said that a rep from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's office "was supposed to meet with Thurman before his reinstatement was considered, and that meeting was never arranged." NFL Senior VP/PR Greg Aiello defended the league's substance-abuse rules: "We have operated our program successfully for almost two decades and are fully confident that our policies are consistent with the law." NFLPA Exec Dir Gene Upshaw said of Thurman and his attorneys, "I was surprised they had taken this route. I know once you're in the program, the only way you can get out of it is you have to comply with the rules."

SIMILAR CASE: Battista notes in a recent EEOC case "similar to Thurman's," former NBAer Roy Tarpley, who "struggled for years with substance abuse," in '91 was banned from the league for violating its policy. When Tarpley was denied reinstatement in '03, "he brought a disability discrimination complaint" to the EEOC.  The EEOC ruled in favor of Tarpley, and on September 26 he sued the NBA and Mavericks, "arguing that they had violated the disabilities act by refusing to reinstate him" (N.Y. TIMES,10/11).