National Football League

Players, league push for dismissal of retiree suit

Published Aug. 8, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

NFL players have asked a federal judge to refrain from ordering them to negotiate further with retirees upset about the way their request for better benefits was handled.

Attorney Barbara Berens filed the request Monday for U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson, who has a hearing scheduled Wednesday in the case.

Hall of Fame defensive end Carl Eller has led the cause. His group filed a lawsuit last month against both the NFL and the current players, accusing both sides of conspiring to keep benefit levels and pension payments low in the new collective bargaining agreement.

Berens wrote Monday that the claim by the retirees is ''fatally flawed.'' Lawyers for the NFL also wrote to Nelson on Monday, asking that the case be dismissed.