Panthers' Russell Okung to appeal dismissed claim against NFLPA

Carolina Panthers left tackle Russell Okung will appeal a dismissed unfair labor claim against the NFL Players Association, his attorney announced Monday.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) dismissed Okung's initial claim last week, saying the evidence "did not contravene the employer-employee relationship, nor did it run afoul of the policies of the [National Labor Relations] Act."

Okung's attorney, Peter Ginsberg, said his client would seek an appeal of the NLRB decision via a "neutral party."

Okung accused the players' union of negotiating in bad faith the new collective bargaining agreement, which was ratified by the players on March 15 by a 1,019-959 vote.

The filing alleged NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith pushed the CBA vote through to the entire group of players despite objections and the disapproval of the NFLPA executive committee.

The NFLPA has vehemently disputed those claims.

"We look forward to a neutral party scrutinizing the NFLPA leadership's history of circumventing and ignoring the union's constitutional mandates and failure to represent the best interests of the labor force, culminating in a flawed, disappointing Collective Bargaining Agreement and forcing out of a leadership position a person who has shown enormous courage in fighting for players' rights and protections," Ginsberg said in a statement.

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler contributed to this report.