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Report: Former Seattle Seahawks CB Brandon Browner to sue NFL next week
Former Seattle Seahawks cornerback Brandon Browner will sue the NFL next week in order to challenge his indefinite drug suspension from the league, Browner’s lawyer and agent Peter Schaffer told Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. Schaffer will also file a preliminary injunction that would allow Browner to enter free agency on March 11, as well as practice and play until the lawsuit is resolved.
Browner had been in Stage 3 of the league’s drug-testing program at the time of his suspension, but the lawsuit will claim that he was erroneously placed in the most stringent portion of the program due to missed tests incurred during Browner’s five years playing in the Canadian Football League, according to Florio:
Browner will contend that the NFL continued to subject him to periodic drug testing after he was cut by the Denver Broncos in 2006. Browner also will contend that the NFL notified him of those tests at an address where he no longer resided, and that the NFLPA never informed him of the mounting penalties and suspensions arising from his failure to submit to testing during the five years after he was cut by the Broncos and returned to the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks.
In December, the league announced Browner’s indefinite ban after he refused a deal that would have reduced his one-year suspension, which was announced in November. Michael Silver of the NFL Network had originally reported the ban stemmed from a failed test for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), but that was later retracted to reflect that the ban was not related to PED use, but a recreational drug instead.
By all accounts that drug was marijuana, and Browner’s suit will seek to change NFL policy regarding pot use:
The lawsuit will be accompanied by an administrative complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claiming that the NFL’s overall approach to players who chronically test positive for marijuana violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. Browner is expected to argue that the NFL at a minimum views players who repeatedly violate the policy as being addicted to marijuana, and that the league’s handling of those players violates the duty to provide a reasonable accommodation.
The results of the suit could dramatically alter the NFL’s substance-abuse policies, at least in regard to how they treat marijuana usage — particularly in Colorado and Washington, where recreational marijuana is now legal. Commissioner Roger Goodell seemed open to rethinking the league’s stance on pot during Super Bowl week.
Browner, a Pro-Bowler in 2011, missed the Seahawks playoff run and Super Bowl XLVIII win, but will receive the bonuses related to the Hawks victory, including a Super Bowl ring. His three-year contract with the Seahawks expired at the end of the 2013 season.
Report: Former Seattle Seahawks CB Brandon Browner to sue NFL next week - Seattle Seahawks & NFL News
Former Seattle Seahawks cornerback Brandon Browner will sue the NFL next week in order to challenge his indefinite drug suspension from the league, Browner’s lawyer and agent Peter Schaffer told Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. Schaffer will also file a preliminary injunction that would allow Browner to enter free agency on March 11, as well as practice and play until the lawsuit is resolved.
Browner had been in Stage 3 of the league’s drug-testing program at the time of his suspension, but the lawsuit will claim that he was erroneously placed in the most stringent portion of the program due to missed tests incurred during Browner’s five years playing in the Canadian Football League, according to Florio:
Browner will contend that the NFL continued to subject him to periodic drug testing after he was cut by the Denver Broncos in 2006. Browner also will contend that the NFL notified him of those tests at an address where he no longer resided, and that the NFLPA never informed him of the mounting penalties and suspensions arising from his failure to submit to testing during the five years after he was cut by the Broncos and returned to the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks.
In December, the league announced Browner’s indefinite ban after he refused a deal that would have reduced his one-year suspension, which was announced in November. Michael Silver of the NFL Network had originally reported the ban stemmed from a failed test for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), but that was later retracted to reflect that the ban was not related to PED use, but a recreational drug instead.
By all accounts that drug was marijuana, and Browner’s suit will seek to change NFL policy regarding pot use:
The lawsuit will be accompanied by an administrative complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claiming that the NFL’s overall approach to players who chronically test positive for marijuana violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. Browner is expected to argue that the NFL at a minimum views players who repeatedly violate the policy as being addicted to marijuana, and that the league’s handling of those players violates the duty to provide a reasonable accommodation.
The results of the suit could dramatically alter the NFL’s substance-abuse policies, at least in regard to how they treat marijuana usage — particularly in Colorado and Washington, where recreational marijuana is now legal. Commissioner Roger Goodell seemed open to rethinking the league’s stance on pot during Super Bowl week.
Browner, a Pro-Bowler in 2011, missed the Seahawks playoff run and Super Bowl XLVIII win, but will receive the bonuses related to the Hawks victory, including a Super Bowl ring. His three-year contract with the Seahawks expired at the end of the 2013 season.
Report: Former Seattle Seahawks CB Brandon Browner to sue NFL next week - Seattle Seahawks & NFL News
