Ex-NFLPA boss' strip club expenses face scrutiny

Former NFL Players Association person Lloyd Howell Jr. resigned aft an extracurricular researcher hired by the national received documents this week showing helium charged the national for 2 visits to portion clubs, including a $738.82 car work that took him from the airdrome to 1 of the clubs.

The documents are union-approved disbursal reports and receipts, which ESPN began asking questions astir hours earlier Howell abruptly resigned precocious Thursday night.

One receipt, obtained by ESPN, shows Howell was picked up successful a sedan by a car work astatine Fort Lauderdale International Airport connected Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, astatine 10:26 p.m. The car's archetypal halt was astatine a adjacent Miami Gardens address.

Nearly 8 hours later, astatine 6 the pursuing morning, the car dropped disconnected Howell astatine his luxury condominium successful Sunny Isles Beach, the receipt shows.

Later, a young national concern idiosyncratic noticed the car service's exorbitant cost. The worker googled the Miami Gardens address, discovering it was Tootsie's Cabaret.

The 76,000-square-foot venue bills itself arsenic the world's largest portion nine - "full nude No. 1 rated."

The worker flagged the receipt to the union's question section for a higher level of review, 2 radical acquainted with national operations told ESPN. The caput of national question past forwarded the documents to compliance for reappraisal by national lawyers, the sources said.

More than a twelvemonth later, Howell and 2 employees visited a portion nine successful Atlanta, according to the disbursal reports obtained by ESPN.

During this year's NFLPA Summit connected Feb. 21, Howell accompanied 2 national employees to the Magic City portion nine for an outing that included $2,426 successful charges including currency withdrawals, ranging from $200 to $525, from a nine ATM, sources and documents show. They utilized 2 "VIP rooms."

According to the disbursal report, the intent of the portion nine outing: "Player Engagement Event to enactment & turn our Union."

The NFLPA Summit is an yearly lawsuit to foster enactment among players and young national employees.

One of the employees who accompanied Howell submitted disbursal reports for this outing, the documents show. Howell instructed the worker to record the disbursal reports, 2 sources acquainted with the substance told ESPN.

The worker noted connected a March 23 disbursal report: "$736 = This was the last magnitude I was charged to adjacent the tab for some secluded sections for our Player Members. This included Food, Alcoholic Drinks, fees, taxes, and gratuity." No players' names are listed connected receipts oregon the reports.

Documents amusement 4 currency withdrawals were flagged with "alerts," seemingly referring to imaginable reimbursement violations.

Howell could not beryllium instantly reached for comment. A spokesperson for the national declined to comment.

Ronald C. Machen, a lawyer for Wilmer Hale, was hired by a peculiar committee of players to analyse Howell's activities. "Our enactment continues," a root adjacent to Machen told ESPN.

Federal labour laws are strict erstwhile it comes to a union's expenses and reimbursement actions; the laws purpose to support national members whose dues money each of the operations, dissimilar what happens successful a firm environment.

Bob Stropp, a wide respected, seasoned labour lawyer, told ESPN that the car work reimbursement is "the benignant of sexy happening that gets the attraction of the [U.S.] Department of Labor."

"That's beauteous horrible," said Stropp, 77, the erstwhile wide counsel of the United Mine Workers of America. "That's unbelievable. I don't cognize however you get astir that. It's hard to judge that anyone would beryllium that stupid."

The NFLPA has its ain acceptable of strict guidelines connected reimbursements of each kinds, but peculiarly for entertainment, erstwhile national officials say. A erstwhile national worker said that determination are nary circumstantial exclusions for venues, similar a portion club, wrong the union's "entertainment" category.

"But I don't deliberation anyone successful their close caput would deliberation that is an optically bully scenario," the erstwhile worker said. "In airy of this, intelligibly that facet of the argumentation should beryllium revisited."

Howell was elected national president successful 2024 and was paid $3.6 cardinal past year. He has lived successful Miami since 2019; records amusement helium paid $6.8 cardinal successful September 2019 for a three-bedroom condominium successful the Porsche Design Tower successful Sunny Isles Beach. The gathering features "in-unit garages for owners to location their prized vehicles." Like his neighbors successful the 132-unit building, Howell has entree to an elevator to present his car straight to his residence.

Questions astir disbursal reports submitted for portion clubs person travel up successful Howell's vocation before. His anterior employer, Booz Allen, questioned him astir a portion nine sojourn connected institution time, too.

In 2015, Howell and a elder vice president visited a Manhattan, New York, portion club, wherever they racked up thousands of dollars for the night's entertainment, a erstwhile Booz Allen enforcement told ESPN. Afterward, Howell's workfellow sought reimbursement connected an disbursal report, which was referred to the firm's compliance lawyers.

The workfellow was fired, and Howell reprimanded, the enforcement said. At the time, Howell was a suspect successful a intersexual favoritism and retaliation suit filed by a Booz Allen partner. Booz Allen settled - for an undisclosed sum - the lawsuit that had alleged Howell and the institution denied pistillate employees enactment roles and excluded them from definite vocation opportunities provided to men.

Another erstwhile Booz Allen enforcement told ESPN the institution was acrophobic astir disciplining Howell portion the suit was active. A twelvemonth later, Booz Allen promoted Howell to beryllium its main fiscal officer, with the enactment of the CEO and executives astatine the Carlyle Group, the sources said.

In his resignation connection Thursday night, Howell, 59, said: "It's wide that my enactment has go a distraction to the important enactment the NFLPA advances each day. For this reason, I person informed the NFLPA Executive Committee that I americium stepping down arsenic Executive Director of the NFLPA and Chairman of the Board of NFL Players effectual immediately. I anticipation this volition let the NFLPA to support its absorption connected its subordinate members up of the upcoming season."

Howell's resignation was made connected his ain and amazed immoderate members of the NFLPA's 10-person enforcement committee, who tried repeatedly to transportation him not to permission the national during a lengthy league telephone Thursday night, according to radical briefed connected the call.

The resignation came aft respective caller reports from ESPN and the podcast, Pablo Torre Finds Out:

• Earlier connected Thursday, ESPN reported connected the Booz Allen intersexual favoritism and retaliation suit that progressive Howell and whether the players who voted for him to pb the NFLPA were alert of it.

• In May, ESPN reported that the FBI is investigating the fiscal dealings of the national and the MLB Players related to a multibillion-dollar group-licensing firm, OneTeam Partners. According to sources, the study triggered a peculiar committee of players' national to prosecute Machen to reappraisal Howell's activities arsenic the enforcement director.

• Last week, ESPN reported that Howell is moving arsenic a paid, part-time advisor for the Carlyle Group, 1 of the league-approved backstage equity firms seeking ownership successful NFL teams.

• ESPN besides reported past week that Howell struck a confidentiality statement with the NFL six months agone that hid the details of the January arbitration determination from players, including a uncovering that league executives urged squad owners to trim guaranteed subordinate compensation. The 61-page ruling was published by the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast connected June 24.

On Sunday, the union's enforcement committee backed Howell successful a connection sent to membership, saying they had "established a deliberate process to cautiously measure the issues that person been raised and volition not prosecute successful a unreserved to judgement."

As precocious arsenic precocious Wednesday night, 2 enforcement committee members gave a beardown endorsement to Howell's enactment and imaginativeness for the NFLPA successful a associated interrogation with ESPN. "We felt large astir the process," 1 of them said. "We are 100 percent down Lloyd."