Report: NFLPA places attorney on leave after claims of abuse
Less than a month after Lloyd Howell Jr. stepped down as executive director, the NFLPA on Tuesday placed one of its top attorneys on paid administrative leave, ESPN reported on Thursday.
According to the report, Heather McPhee, associate general counsel for the NFLPA, was put on leave after multiple union employees filed complaints with the human resources department.
The complaints, according to five sources who spoke with ESPN, included allegations of failing to follow supervisors' directions, bullying coworkers and disrupting the work environment within the union.
ESPN reported that the union retained an outside firm "months ago" to investigate the claims against McPhee, and that those allegations were officially outlined in a letter signed by interim executive director David White on Tuesday.
McPhee, who has held her role since 2009, reportedly wrote several memos warning the NFLPA of potential legal troubles with OneTeam Partners, a $2 billion licensing company owned in part by the NFLPA and the Major League Baseball Players Association.
Among McPhee's reported claims were that OneTeam board members allocated equity shares to themselves as part of a bonus plan. Unrelated allegations of wrongdoing reportedly were made by an MLBPA whistleblower against that union's head, Tony Clark.
Howell was also accused of a conflict of interest as he served as a consultant for The Carlyle Group, one of a small handful of private equity firms that the NFL has approved to pursue minority ownership in franchises, as well as potential collusion with the league to stem the increasing value of quarterback contracts.
ESPN's reporting last month also included a former lead outside counsel for the NFLPA, Jim Quinn, calling it "an outrageous conflict for the head of a labor union to have an interest in a third party that is aligned with the NFL."
Howell ultimately resigned after ESPN reported that receipts from a November 2023 trip taken by Howell showed car service and other costs billed to the NFLPA from Tootsie's Cabaret, which promotes itself as the world's largest strip club.
--Field Level Media
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The Independent
26 minutes ago
- The Independent
Solar panels that fit on your balcony or deck are gaining traction in the US
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The systems about the size of a door haven't been as widely adopted in the U.S. as in Europe because of lack of awareness, patchwork utility rules and limited availability. The $2,000 plug-in solar system installed on Dwyer's backyard deck in March consists of two 400 watt panels, an inverter, a smart meter and a circuit breaker. It saves him around $35 per month on his power bill because he is consuming less energy from the grid, but he said reducing his carbon footprint was his primary motivation. 'We like the environmental benefits of solar and wanted to engage with solar in some fashion,' Dwyer said. Had Dwyer opted for rooftop solar, he would have paid $20,000 for the system and $30,000 to upgrade his roof to support the panels. Installing a plug-in solar system requires some homework. What power companies let customers do with energy-generating equipment varies, which is why prospective purchasers should check their utility's policies first. Building permits might be required depending on the municipality. Some systems can be self-installed, while others may require an electrician. For example, some kits have meters that must be wired into a home's circuit breaker. Removing hurdles for plug-in solar Dwyer bought his system from Bright Saver, a nonprofit company in California that advocates for plug-in solar. In addition to the type Dwyer bought, the company also offers a smaller model costing $399 that recently sold out in six days. 'The interest and demand have been overwhelming,' said Cora Stryker, a founder of Bright Saver. 'It is clear that we are hitting a nerve — many Americans have wanted solar for a long time but have not had an option that is feasible and affordable for them until now.' Kevin Chou, another founder of Bright Saver, said wider adoption of the systems in the U.S. has been hindered by utility policies that create uncertainty about whether they're allowed and a lack of state and local policies to make clear what rules apply. Some utilities contacted by The Associated Press say plug-in solar systems require the same interconnection applications as rooftop panels that send electricity back to the wider network. But Steven Hegedus, an electrical engineering professor at University of Delaware, said he doesn't understand why a utility would need to require an interconnection agreement for plug-in solar because, unlike rooftop systems, they are designed to prevent energy from flowing to the grid. Still, if in doubt, a customer should follow their utility's policy. During the early days of plug-in solar's growth, some opposition from utilities is likely since customers are buying less energy, said Robert Cudd, a research analyst at the California Center for Sustainable Communities at the University of California, Los Angeles. 'Utilities really prefer everyone being a predictable and generous consumer of the electricity they sell,' Cudd said. This year, Utah enacted a novel law supporting plug-in solar by exempting certain small-scale systems from interconnection agreements and establishing safety requirements such as being certified by a nationally recognized testing organization such as Underwriters Laboratories. It appears to be the only state that's passed legislation supporting plug-in solar, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Republican state Rep. Raymond Ward, who sponsored the legislation, said the smaller systems allow people to better manage where their energy comes from and what they pay. 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He estimates the price of a $2,000 system in the U.S. works out to paying about $0.20 a kilowatt-hour over a 25-year period, which only saves people money if they have high utility costs. By comparison, Borenstein said the cost of systems sold in Europe, typically around $600, is equivalent to paying about $0.05 or $0.06 per kilowatt-hour over 25 years. Baltimore resident Craig Keenan said saving money was only part of why he installed one of the smaller Bright Saver models on his balcony in July. 'I'm interested in renewable energy because the amount of carbon emissions that we produce as a species is very, very unsustainable for our world,' he said. He said he expects the system will save him about $40 per year on utility bills, so it would take him about 10 years to recoup the cost of the kit. Keenan, a mechanical engineer, said installation took him 10 to 15 minutes. 'I think anyone can install this,' he said. 'It's not complicated. It doesn't require a technical degree.' 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'This is an example of where technology is sort of ahead of the regulators,' Oliver said, adding: 'As this rolls out to more of a nationwide product, we expect it will become more mainstream as people understand it better." ___ Associated Press video journalist Mingson Lau in Baltimore contributed to this report. ___ The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
The Independent
26 minutes ago
- The Independent
New lawsuit challenges Trump's federal takeover of DC police department as crackdown intensifies
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The Metropolitan Police Department 'must receive approval from Commissioner Cole' before issuing any orders, Bondi said. It was unclear where the move left the city's current police chief, Pamela Smith, who works for the mayor. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser pushed back, writing on social media that 'there is no statute that conveys the District's personnel authority to a federal official.' Chief had agreed to share immigration information Schwalb had said late Thursday that Bondi's directive was 'unlawful,' arguing it could not be followed by the city's police force. He wrote in a memo to Smith that 'members of MPD must continue to follow your orders and not the orders of any official not appointed by the Mayor,' setting up the legal clash between the heavily Democratic district and the Republican administration. 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Reuters
27 minutes ago
- Reuters
Intel shares rise on report of possible US government stake
Aug 15 (Reuters) - Intel shares (INTC.O), opens new tab rose 3% on Friday on hopes of more financial aid for the turnaround of the struggling chipmaker after a report that the U.S. government may buy a stake. The Bloomberg News report followed a meeting between CEO Lip-Bu Tan and President Donald Trump on Monday after Trump demanded the new Intel chief's resignation over his "highly conflicted" ties to Chinese firms. Trump, who called the meeting "very interesting", has taken an unprecedented approach to interventions and deal-making with corporate America. His administration had struck a deal with MP Materials (MP.N), opens new tab that would make the Department of Defense the largest shareholder of the rare-earth producer. Federal backing could give Intel more time to revive its loss-making foundry business, analysts said, but it still faces a weak product roadmap and trouble attracting customers for new factories. Under the Biden administration, Intel had emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the 2022 CHIPS Act, as former CEO Pat Gelsinger laid out plans to build advanced factories. Tan, however, pared back such ambitions, slowing construction of new plants in Ohio. He plans to build factories based on demand for the services, which analysts have said could put him at odds with Trump's push to shore up American manufacturing. The report said a deal would help build out the Ohio plant, which has faced delays and was expected to be completed by 2030. It could be a "game-changer", said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. But he warned "government support might help shore up confidence, but it doesn't fix the underlying competitiveness gap in advanced nodes." Intel lost its competitive edge years ago to Taiwan's TSMC ( opens new tab. It has virtually no presence in the booming AI chips market dominated by Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab and is losing market share in PCs and datacenters to AMD (AMD.O), opens new tab. Its latest 18A manufacturing process is facing quality issues, Reuters has reported, as only a small share of chips produced are good enough for customers, while it remains partly dependent on TSMC to make Intel in-house designed chips. "Intel also needs capability; can the US government do anything to help here?" Bernstein analysts said. "Without a solid process roadmap the entire exercise would be economically equivalent to simply setting 10s of billions of dollars on fire."
