Professional Athletes Line up To Sue League for ADA Violation
Former NBA player Roy Tarpley is not the only professional athlete claiming that as an alcoholic he was discriminated against in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Joining him now in this burgeoning area of sports law is suspended Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman. Thurman, who has already served a year-long suspension for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy that he received for driving under the influence while already suspended, believes the league declined to reinstate him this season because he is an alcoholic. When Thurman applied for reinstatement in July, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell decided his suspension should continue for another season.
Thurman filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Thurman’s lawyer, John J. Michels, alleges the NFL believes that, if Thurman were reinstated, he would eventually violate the substance-abuse program. In a letter to Thurman, Goodell cited that Thurman’s conduct while in the rehabilitation program led the league to believe he would not be able to continue observance of the substance-abuse policy if he were playing football this season.
Considered by the ADA to be a disability only if a person has received treatment for alcohol abuse, Thurman completed an inpatient rehabilitation program last spring and has had no more alcohol-related incidents. However, there is no clear rule on how long a person must be sober or how long they must have received treatment before they are considered to be protected under the ADA.
Tarpley recently sued the NBA and the Dallas Mavericks for violation of the ADA. After his career in the NBA was marred with a history of cocaine and alcohol abuse, Tarpley was banned for good in 1995 for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy. Tarpley claims, and the EEOC has agreed, that the NBA violated the ADA by failing to reinstate Tarpley, who has passed all drug tests taken in the last four years.
