Not long after David White became the interim executive director of the NFL Players Association, the union placed longtime in-house counsel Heather McPhee [on paid leave](https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/report-nflpa-puts-in-house-counsel-heather-mcphee-on-paid-leave). The action, reported by ESPN, raised eyebrows given prior reports that McPhee had been blowing the whistle internally on issues such as the federal investigation arising from the NFLPA’s activities in relation to One Team Partners.
Earlier this year, McPhee reportedly hired the same lawyer who had handled a whistleblower case against Booz Allen Hamilton, the former employer of now-former NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell. That lawsuit settled for $377 million not long after Howell was hired by the NFLPA.
In his first interview since getting the job, White addressed the move.
“It had nothing to do with retaliation or whistleblower,” White told Rob Maaddi of the Associated Press. “Retaliation is not something that will happen at this organization so long as I’m here. [That’s a personnel issue](https://apnews.com/article/nflpa-david-white-howell-tretter-goodell-ea6e106efcd54d44281240c3b5973a9c) and I’m not going to say anything at all about it.”
That’s all anyone would expect him to say about it. No employer that allegedly was motivated in whole or in part by protected factors ever admits that it discriminated and/or retaliated. And there will usually be little direct evidence to support such claims in court.
If/when McPhee files a legal challenge, the action will hinge on circumstantial evidence that potentially shows different treatment of similar employees under similar circumstances.
The simple reality for the union is that, at a time when it has seemingly preferred to operate under extreme secrecy, McPhee had been sounding one or more alarms. And potentially building an eventual case. It’s entirely possible that the union decided, given the inevitably of litigation, to neutralize her ability to undermine the union’s ongoing effort to circle wagons and downplay problems.
We don’t know if that’s what happened. But if/when McPhee files a civil complaint, her lawyer will undoubtedly attempt to prove that she was the source of significant heat that the union felt compelled to remove from a very hot kitchen.