Colin Kaepernick has filed a grievance against the NFL, claiming owners worked together to deprive him of employment. The news was first reported by Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman.
According to ESPN, the former San Francisco 49er has hired high profile attorney Mark Geragos, who has represented stars Michael Jackson and Chris Brown. The filing states NFL owners “have colluded to deprive Mr. Kaepernick of employment rights in retaliation for Mr. Kaepernick’s leadership and advocacy for equality and social justice and his bringing awareness to peculiar institutions still undermining racial equality in the United States” and calls for an arbitration hearing to discuss the matter.
On Sunday, Geragos shared a statement claiming that the grievance only came after “pursuing every possible avenue with all NFL teams and their executives.”
Kaepernick has been a free agent since March after drawing national attention last season for his protest of the national anthem.
The NFLPA (National Football League Players Association) issued their own statement late Sunday, giving Kaepernick their support. “Our union has a duty to assist Mr. Kaepernick as we do all players and we will support him,” the statement read. “The NFLPA has been in regular contact with Mr. Kaepernick’s representatives for the past year about his options and our union agreed to follow the direction of his advisors throughout that time.”
The grievance comes at a time when the NFL is in the spotlight for recent discussions about players’ rights to kneel and protest the national anthem.