NFLPA serves subpoenas in ongoing civil suit

NEW YORK (AP) - The NFL Players Association has served subpoenas on the NFL, commissioner Roger Goodell and former union president Troy Vincent, according to a report Thursday by Sports Business Journal.

The subpoenas, part of an ongoing civil lawsuit filed by a former union official, seek all documents related to allegations that Vincent and other former NFLPA officials attempted to collude with NFL officials by holding secret meetings to discuss labor talks.

The league's collective bargaining agreement expires next March and a work stoppage is possible without a new deal.

The meetings are alleged to have occurred before current union chief DeMaurice Smith won an election over Vincent to become executive director in March 2009. Vincent was hired by the NFL as vice president of player development earlier this year.

George Atallah, the NFLPA's assistant executive director for external affairs, declined to comment on the subpoenas when reached by The Associated Press.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said, "We have no comment on any aspect of this litigation between the NFLPA and one of its former employees."

The union has acknowledged cooperating with a Department of Labor probe into the alleged meetings, which were revealed in a lawsuit filed against the union by Mary Moran. The longtime employee claims she was wrongfully removed from her job as director of human resources because of her role as a confidential informant in the investigation.

In court documents filed in District of Columbia Superior Court, Moran said she provided evidence that Vincent and other union members met with Goodell and Houston Texans owner Bob McNair, allegedly to provide the league access to confidential union information.

The NFL has steadfastly denied the allegations, noting that it's common for Goodell to meet with players and union executives, including Vincent.

McNair called the allegations "completely without foundation."

Moran also alleges that Smith met with a Department of Justice official in a bid to stop the investigation, weeks after he was elected to the job to succeed Gene Upshaw.

Moran is the daughter of U.S. Rep. Jim Moran, a Democrat from Virginia. She was hired by the NFLPA as an office assistant in 1993 and promoted to director of human resources in 2003.