It’s become a familiar story. High-paid professional athletes, advised by aggressive financial managers, put their assets in investments that go bust. In football alone, casualties have included Tony Dorsett, Lawrence Taylor and the late Johnny Unitas. Now several former pro football players burned out of an estimated combined $20 million believe they have a case against both their league and union. On Thursday, March 29, they got a major piece of good news in Atlanta federal court. U.S. District Judge Julie E. Carnes denied a motion to dismiss their civil suit against the National Football League, the National Football League Players Association, and several unidentified entities whose job it was to perform background checks of investment managers.
Imagine an America in which employers faced steep fines for failing to interview a sufficient number of minority candidates for a vacant management slot prior to making a hiring decision. Even in this day and age, where Diversity rules, that might seem a far-fetched scenario. Yet for the last half-dozen years, this has been the way the National Football League has operated. And its advocates are seeking ways to expand this regime to a variety of venues - and with a strong assist from government.
