Louisiana Lawmakers Shelve Bill on Saints’ Workers’ Comp Issue

The Louisiana Legislature won’t be meddling any further this session in a workers’ compensation dispute between NFL players and the New Orleans Saints.

The Saints had been pushing a bill to lessen its workers’ compensation costs for injured players. But Rep. Cameron Henry shelved the proposal and said he doesn’t expect to bring it up again for the session that ends in June.

“It became clear to all of the parties that it would be easier to work this particular issue out through contracts and the collective bargaining process,” said Henry, R-Jefferson, after he declined to hear the bill on the House floor as scheduled.

The bill was aimed at professional athletes and former pro athletes who are filing claims in California, where the laws are more liberal – and more expensive to a team. It would have required professional athletes for Louisiana teams to be subject to workers’ compensation benefits under Louisiana law if they are injured in a game or practice.

But with legal concerns about the carve-out specifically for athletes, Henry broadened the measure to apply to all workers in Louisiana. That raised new concerns about how the expanded language could affect rank-and-file employees and businesses in the state.

Gary Delahoussaye, with Eustis Insurance, has handled the Saints insurance policy for two decades. He testified in a House committee hearing on the bill that the NFL is being bombarded with trauma claims filed in California and going back decades from retired players who are legally able to file there because they played a game in California or had a California agent.

The types of trauma claims allowed in California wouldn’t be covered under Louisiana’s workers’ compensation laws. The claims, which can reach up to $250,000 each, are boosting the Saints’ costs and insurance bills, Delahoussaye said.

The NFL Players Association argued that the claims complaints should be addressed in the collective bargaining agreement between players and team owners and that Henry’s bill will end up in court if it passes.

Players union general counsel Richard Berthelsen said many of these claims were being filed decades later because the teams didn’t properly notify players of their workers’ compensation rights to make those claims.

House Bill 1097 can be found at www.legis.state.la.us

Topics California Legislation Claims Workers' Compensation Louisiana