House Bill 1069 is Wrong for Louisiana
Under current Louisiana Workers’ Compensation law, an employee who is injured in his work place and who, as a result of that injury, is no longer able to perform that job, is entitled to a wage loss benefit. The wage loss benefit is calculated by comparing the average weekly wage the employee was making at the time of the injury to the wage that the employee is able to earn afterwards. If the wages are less with the post-injury employment, then the employee is awarded a weekly benefit. For purposes of determining the pre-injury wage, for employees with an annual salary, their annual wages are divided by 52. NFL Players are employed under the annual contract contained in the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The proposed statute would treat professional athletes differently for the purposes of determining the average weekly wage. If a professional athlete has variable wages depending on his activity, then the average weekly wage would be determined solely by looking at the wage the employee earned at the time of injury. This would have the effect of reducing the average weekly wage calculation for players who get hurt in the off-season or preseason when they are making substantially less than they would under their contract.
Now, players are coming together to fight against another unfair attack on the athletes of New Orleans.
“This is a malicious and underhanded attempt to eliminate our injury benefits. The legislators who proposed this bill at the request of Saints owner Tom Benson should be ashamed. Representatives Broadwater and Henry have some nerve claiming to cheer for their hometown teams and yet take away their injury benefits by a vote last week. Every sports fan in the state should call them and ask them why.”
- Kevin Mawae, Former NFLPA President, All-Pro Center, LSU Athletic Hall of Fame
“Our union has been fighting to protect the workers compensation rights of players in Louisiana and across the country for years. In fact, there is no cost to the team owner or the taxpayer for NFL players to obtain this benefit for the injuries they suffered at work because the award costs are offset by players, ourselves. This is nothing more than greed.”
- Eric Winston, NFLPA President
“Bill 1069 is not good for Saints players, not good for our team or other sports teams in Louisiana and not good for our state. The job of legislators in Louisiana is to protect injured workers and fight for their workers comp benefits, not find ways to support bills like this one which reduce the workers comp benefits we receive when we get hurt. There is no financial benefit to the state with this bill, only team management. I am disappointed that Representative Broadwater and Henry would take such a stance against our players and other Louisiana workers. Whether we get hurt during the season or in the preseason, it is all the same. It is in preparation to help us win a championship for our community.”
- Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints Quarterback, Super Bowl XLIV MVP
“I play in this state and I love our team, but I cannot support the efforts of legislators to pass a bill that would affect our injury benefits as athletes. There are a lot of great things about working here and we have great fans for our sports teams, but we should not have to worry about being taken care of if we're hurt on the job.”
- Jason Smith, New Orleans Pelicans Center
“Workers compensation and injury benefits are a right that we all have as employees in America. This attempt to sneak in legislation crafted to treat professional athletes different from other workers is unfair and all players and Saints fans should fight it.”
- Benjamin Watson, New Orleans Saints Tight End, NFLPA Executive Committee
“This bill affects athletes on all teams in Louisiana. If you are a sports fan of the Saints, Pelicans or even Voodoo, this bill will hurt those players. We cannot let that happen.”
- Mark Ingram, New Orleans Saints Running Back, Heisman Trophy Winner
“We risk everything to play this game and all we want in return is to be treated fairly and with respect. Every fan that watches this game knows that we risk serious injury every time we step on the field. We should be able to know that our ability to get care for those injuries is guaranteed when we step off of it.”
- Curtis Lofton, New Orleans Saints Linebacker, Defensive Team Captain
What is Louisiana House Bill 1069?
HB 1069 is proposed legislation which would discriminate against professional athletes. Instead of treating them like every other employee in the state, this bill seeks to limit calculation of an athlete’s workers’ compensation benefits to his or her per diem in training camp, rather than his or her contracted wages.
Who is behind HB 1069?
Tom Benson, the Benson family and the New Orleans Saints brought the bill to Representatives Chris Broadwater and Cameron Henry for sponsoring.
But Representative Broadwater said that this bill was neither pro-management nor pro-player.
This is an outright lie. HB 1069 is specifically designed to take away benefits from players and put money in the pockets of management.
Workers’ compensation costs for all professional athletes employed by the NFL and NBA are paid out of the athletes’ side of the salary cap. As part of the collective bargaining agreement, athletes agreed to have less money available for salaries to ensure that they would have workers’ compensation benefits.
Simply put, the funding for workers’ compensation is already credited to the teams. If the New Orleans Saints are able to pass legislation restricting players from accessing a benefit for which they collectively bargained, it is extra money in the pocket of the Benson family.
But Representative Broadwater also said that this bill will ensure that professional athletes are treated like every other worker in Louisiana.
Currently, professional athletes ARE treated the same as every other worker in Louisiana. HB 1069 actually proposes treating them differently!
The Louisiana workers’ compensation statute has specific formulas for calculating an injured employee’s workers’ compensation rate. In Louisiana, salary is based on gross earnings divided by 52 (weeks in the year) for employees paid based on an annual contract.
NFL players are paid the majority of their annual earnings over 17 paychecks during the regular season. HB 1069 tries to exploit this structure and discriminate against professional athletes who are injured during the preseason when they have not begun to receive their annual salary under their annual contract.
Will this bill save Louisiana taxpayers money?
HB 1069 is special interest legislation intended only to benefit team owners, not the Louisiana citizens. Workers’ compensation costs in professional sports are NOT paid for by the state or its taxpayers, not in Louisiana or any other state. Benefits paid are not a financial burden to the state.
In fact, athletes help generate billions of dollars for Louisiana's economy and pay hundreds of millions of dollars each year in income taxes to Louisiana. This bill could make free agents reconsider if they wanted to play for a team in the state of Louisiana.
Who will be hurt by HB 1069?
The Saints ignore the fact that professional athletes seek wage replacement benefits when they are unemployed and are no longer receiving paychecks due to injuries incurred on the job. Workers’ compensation is a benefit for which players collectively bargained so that they can receive assistance when they and their families are most in need of help – after they can no longer play the game.
HB 1069 would apply to all minor league professional athletes as well. Low-level soccer players, baseball players, hockey players, and even women playing in the Women’s Football Alliance (some of whom only earn a few hundred dollars a week), would be affected. These low wage earners who rely heavily on benefits from workers’ compensation to address any work-related injury would be significantly harmed.
What were to happen if Coach Sean Payton were to incur the exact same injury as quarterback Drew Brees at a home pre-season game?
If HB 1069 passes, Payton’s workers’ compensation benefits would be determined the way it is for every other worker in the state. His reported $8 million yearly salary would be divided by 52, and compensation would be based on that number ($153,846.15).
If HB 1069 passes, Brees’ workers’ compensation would be based on his earnings for only that pre-season game, which would be $1,700.
Without HB 1069, Brees and Payton are treated as equals. Brees’ workers’ compensation would be based on his yearly earnings of $11 million divided by 52 ($211,538.46).
The money saved by reducing workers’ compensation payments to the Super Bowl MVP and New Orleans community servant would stay in the pockets of Saints Owner Tom Benson. The money saved could not be used for salary for other players.
Didn’t the Louisiana Governor’s Advisory Council vote against HB 1069?
Yes. The panel, which consists of all sides of the worker’s compensation system, employee and employer attorneys, doctors, insurance companies, etc., voted 10-0 against the New Orleans Saints’ proposed bill.
Representative Broadwater did not bring the bill back to the council after recent amendments, opting instead to push it through the House.
Haven’t the Saints attempted to do this before?
Yes, in 2010, the Saints used one of the same Representatives (Henry) to attempt to push through a bill to limit workers’ compensation claims by professional athletes.
It failed to pass once it was revised to include ALL employees of Louisiana companies.
Contact your elected officials and let them know you are opposed to House Bill 1069.
Contact HB 1069 sponsors:
Representative Chris Broadwater
Republican District 86
broadwaterc@legis.la.gov
(985) 543-4900
112 South Cypress St.
Hammond, LA 70403
Representative Cameron Henry
Republican District 82
henryc@legis.la.gov
(504) 838-5433
1539 Metairie Road
Suite A
Metairie, LA 70005