The NFL Players Association placed one of its top lawyers on paid administrative leave Tuesday after multiple employees filed complaints with the union’s human resources department, five sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPN on Thursday.
Heather McPhee, associate general counsel for the NFLPA since 2009, was the subject of complaints alleging her failure to follow supervisors’ directions as well as allegations of bullying colleagues and disrupting the union’s work environment, the sources told ESPN.
The decision to place her on leave comes months after her allegations helped prompt a federal investigation into the financial dealings of the NFLPA and the Major League Baseball Players Association in relation to OneTeam Partners, their $2 billion licensing company.
McPhee did not return phone or text messages from ESPN on Thursday. Her lawyer, William Pittard, did not return messages. An NFLPA spokesperson declined to comment, saying they do not comment on personnel matters.
Among those filing complaints about McPhee’s alleged workplace conduct, sources familiar with the situation said, was Matt Curtin, the head of NFL Players Inc., the licensing arm of the union, and a member of the OneTeam board.
Inside the union’s Washington, D.C., headquarters, McPhee was an outspoken and frequent critic of recently departed NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell Jr., the sources told ESPN.
She had previously retained counsel amid the ongoing FBI inquiry into the two unions’ relationship with OneTeam. The group-licensing firm is 44.5% owned by the NFLPA, the sources told ESPN.
The workplace allegations against McPhee were outlined in a letter dated Tuesday and signed by the NFLPA’s new interim executive director, David White. Portions of the letter were read to an ESPN reporter Thursday. The sources said the NFLPA months ago hired an outside firm, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, to investigate the allegations against McPhee.
Besides the federal inquiry, a separate investigation of Howell’s leadership and other union governance issues is being conducted by Ron Machen, a Wilmer Hale lawyer hired by a special committee of players. Machen declined to comment Thursday.
Howell resigned July 17 after a series of ESPN stories that outlined his use of union funds for multiple nights at strip clubs and his consulting work for a company that can purchase stakes in NFL teams.
ESPN also reported on a confidentiality agreement between the union and league after a settlement between the parties on potentially collusive behavior by the NFL. An arbitrator’s 61-page ruling was leaked in late June to the “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast.
Sources with direct knowledge of the situation told ESPN that the OneTeam investigation began after McPhee wrote multiple memos suggesting the NFLPA could be in legal jeopardy after OneTeam pursued a bonus plan for members of its board. Howell and MLBPA executive director Tony Clark held board seats.
Separately, a former MLBPA official anonymously had filed a whistleblower complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing Clark of misuse of funds and nepotism. Clark has denied any wrongdoing.
McPhee urged the NFLPA to investigate claims that OneTeam board members had allocated equity shares to themselves. The NFLPA eventually hired attorney Richard Smith to investigate the OneTeam arrangement. Smith’s audit of the NFLPA’s dealings with OneTeam concluded in March, with McPhee alleging that Howell had improperly shut it down.
Several sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPN that McPhee has not been deemed a whistleblower in the FBI case, meaning she would not receive a whistleblower’s legal protections.
The scope of the federal criminal investigation is unknown, but sources have told ESPN that multiple football and baseball players have been contacted by the FBI and the investigation remains ongoing.
White, the former leader of the SAG-AFTRA union for film industry production employees, was elected as the union’s interim executive director Aug. 4.
