Heather McPhee’s NFLPA Lawsuit: Retaliation, Collusion, and Firing

Heather McPhee, who spent sixteen years as an associate general counsel at the NFL Players Association, is suing the union in federal court for retaliation, sex discrimination, breach of fiduciary duty, and conspiracy to obstruct her cooperation with a federal criminal investigation. The Heather McPhee NFLPA lawsuit, filed December 18, 2025 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, names the NFLPA, former executive director Lloyd Howell Jr., general counsel Tom DePaso, and NFL Players Inc. president Matthew Curtin as defendants, and seeks $10 million in damages.¹ The NFLPA fired her on December 30, 2025, twelve days after she filed the complaint.²

What She Says the Union Retaliated Against

McPhee’s central claim is that she was pushed out for cooperating with a Department of Justice investigation and for raising internal objections to an executive compensation scheme at OneTeam Partners, the player-licensing venture jointly owned by the NFLPA, the MLBPA, and other players’ unions. The NFLPA holds roughly 44 percent of OneTeam and the MLBPA about 22 percent; the company is valued at roughly $2 billion.³⁴

In 2023, according to the complaint, OneTeam’s board adopted a Senior Executive Incentive Plan that would issue “profit units” exchangeable for cash to the unions, which could then grant the money to their own executives. McPhee alleges the arrangement created a conflict of interest, because the board members approving payouts stood to benefit, and that it would dilute profit units held by rank-and-file union members. She also contended that channeling money to union board representatives this way would violate laws barring union officials from taking things of value from an employer. She says she raised the concerns internally in November 2024. OneTeam has said the plan was abandoned and no board members were paid, though the complaint alleges the authorizing resolution remains on the company’s books.⁵

The Eastern District of New York U.S. Attorney’s Office, with prosecutor David Berman, opened a criminal investigation into OneTeam and the union officials involved. By mid-2025, the FBI was contacting players and their representatives, and both the NFLPA and the MLBPA hired outside counsel separate from their executive directors to cooperate.³ McPhee agreed in May 2025 to serve as a cooperating witness for the DOJ regarding potential misconduct by union leaders including Howell and MLBPA executive director Tony Clark.² Her lawsuit alleges that agreement is what set the retaliation in motion. No criminal charges have been filed publicly in connection with the probe.

The Buried Collusion Ruling

The complaint also ties McPhee’s removal to her questions about a suppressed arbitration ruling. In January 2025, arbitrator Christopher Droney issued a 61-page decision on a collusion grievance the NFLPA filed in 2022 after owners appeared to stop offering fully guaranteed contracts following Deshaun Watson’s $230 million deal with the Browns. Droney found insufficient evidence of formal collusion but concluded, by a clear preponderance of the evidence, that Commissioner Roger Goodell and general counsel Jeff Pash had urged owners at a March 2022 meeting to restrict guaranteed money.⁶

Howell and the NFL signed a confidentiality agreement limiting access to a handful of lawyers and senior executives, even though the Collective Bargaining Agreement entitled player representatives and the executive committee to copies of arbitration rulings. Player reps never received one.⁷ The ruling stayed secret until journalists published its contents in late June 2025.

McPhee alleges she questioned why the union agreed to bury the findings.⁸ According to the complaint, DePaso accused her of leaking the ruling to the media and told her she was “being emotional” when she raised concerns about the timing of the union’s appeal.⁹

Leave, Firing, and the Sex-Discrimination Claim

In August 2025 the union placed McPhee on paid administrative leave, citing what her lawsuit describes as her “workplace behavior.” She says DePaso described her as “making trouble” and being “too intense and emotional.”² She was still on leave when she filed suit on December 18. Twelve days later, on December 30, she received a termination notice, which she stated in a court filing arrived “mere hours before” the NFLPA moved to seal portions of her complaint.⁸ The NFLPA declined to comment, calling the firing a “personnel matter.”

The sex-discrimination count claims McPhee was treated “more harshly” than male colleagues at the union, with the “emotional” and “too intense” characterizations offered as evidence of a pattern of disparate treatment.⁸

The NFLPA’s Response and the Fight Over Sealing

The NFLPA argues that the information in McPhee’s complaint came from her work as a union attorney and is protected by attorney-client privilege, and it moved to seal portions of the filing. McPhee opposes the motion, saying her knowledge about OneTeam came from non-confidential information, and she stated in a filing that the NFLPA “will not send unredacted court filings to its union members unless the Court orders it to do so.”⁸

Judge Amir H. Ali denied the union’s first, unopposed sealing motion on December 23, 2025 for failing to address the relevant legal standard. After the NFLPA refiled with more detail, the court temporarily placed the complaint under seal on December 31, 2025 pending a ruling.¹⁰ Reporting suggests the union’s broader defense will treat the firing as a natural continuation of the leave decision, and defend the leave itself as justified.¹¹

Where the Case Stands

McPhee v. National Football League Players Association, No. 1:25-cv-04409, remains active in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before Judge Ali. Briefing on the sealing motion was completed in early February 2026, and as of mid-June 2026 no ruling on that motion or on the merits has been issued; the most recent docket entry was a joint status report filed June 10, 2026.¹⁰¹² The Eastern District of New York criminal investigation into OneTeam Partners is also ongoing, with no public indictments reported.³

Howell resigned as NFLPA executive director in July 2025, and the union elected David White, formerly of SAG-AFTRA, as interim executive director on August 3, 2025.¹³¹⁴ DePaso’s status is less clear: early-2025 reporting had sources saying he was departing amid the investigation and staff cuts, and another source denying it.¹⁵

1
ABA Journal. NFL Players Association Fires Attorney Who Sued Union Over Retaliation, Sex Discrimination
2
The Athletic (New York Times). Heather McPhee Fired NFLPA Lawsuit
3
The Athletic (New York Times). NFLPA MLBPA Investigation OneTeam Partners Equity Controversy
4
NBC Sports. Questions Linger Regarding Potential Self-Dealing by Former NFLPA Executive Director Lloyd Howell
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The Athletic (New York Times). NFLPA Heather McPhee Lawsuit Retaliation FBI Investigation
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ESPN. NFLPA NFL Agreed Keep Collusion Findings Secret
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Yahoo Sports. Report: NFL, NFLPA Agreed to Hide Critical Details of Arbitrators Ruling on Collusion Hearing
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Front Office Sports. NFLPA Fires Heather McPhee OneTeam Lawsuit
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Pro Football Rumors. Former NFLPA Associate General Counsel Sues Union
10
CourtListener. McPhee v. National Football League Players Association
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Yahoo Sports. NFLPAs Defense Heather McPhees Lawsuit
12
PACER Monitor. McPhee v. National Football League Players Association et al
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ESPN. Inside NFLPA Executive Director Lloyd Howell Tenure
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NBC New York. David White NFLPA Interim Executive Director Lloyd Howell
15
Front Office Sports. NFLPA Corruption Investigation OneTeam Unions Licensing