Russell Okung seeks appeal of dismissed claim against NFLPA

[Bolt]

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Panthers tackle Russell Okung learned last week that the National Labor Relations Board dismissed his unfair labor practice claim against the NFL Players Association, but Okung isn’t ready to drop the fight.

Okung’s attorney Peter Ginsberg said his client is seeking an appeal of the NLRB’s decision to dismiss the claim, which accused NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith of forcing a vote on the Collective Bargaining Agreement earlier this year despite the objections of the union’s executive committee.

“We look forward to a neutral party scrutinizing the NFLPA leadership’s history of circumventing and ignoring the union’s constitutional mandates and failure to represent the best interests of the labor force, culminating in a flawed, disappointing Collective Bargaining Agreement and forcing out of a leadership position a person who has shown enormous courage in fighting for players’ rights and protections,” Ginsberg said in a statement, via ESPN.com.

Players voted to adopt the CBA by a 60-vote margin. The NLRB said the evidence Okung provided in support of his claim “did not contravene the employer-employee relationship, nor did it run afoul of the policies” of the National Labor Relations Act.