Sports attorney David Cornwell, a finalist for the NFLPA Executive Director position, has once again spoken out regarding breaches of confidentiality relating to the league’s supposedly private substance abuse and steroids policies.
Said Cornwell of the recent report from Tony Pauline of SI.com that Boston College defensive tackle B.J. Raji tested positive for marijuana, in a statement e-mailed to us:
“Under the NFL Substance Abuse Policy, players have an obligation not to use illegal drugs and the NFL has an obligation to preserve the confidentiality of test results. Players are punished — not counseled; not treated — punished, if they fail to fulfill their obligation. There needs to be some punishment for failing to maintain confidentiality as well.
“As a private enterprise, the NFL has wide discretion to advance its business interests. Confidentiality is THE lynchpin of every workplace drug-testing program. Repeated breaches of confidentiality threaten the legitimacy of the NFL’s testing programs. It is disingenuous for the NFL to require perfect compliance from players and accept repeated non-compliance from itself. It is also disingenuous to suggest there is nothing the NFL can do about it.”
As Cornwell did when Josina Anderson of FOX31 in Denver reported during the 2008 regular season that several players had tested positive for the banned substance Bumetanide, Cornwell has called for the reporter to be shunned by the league, absent disclosure of the persons who blabbed.
“The NFL should withhold access to all NFL-controlled events from Tony Pauline and SI.com until Pauline’s source is revealed,” Cornwell said. “The public has no right to know information that NFL has an obligation to keep confidential. No legitimate interest overrides a player’s fundamental right to confidentiality. If I am wrong, then the public certainly has the right to know the names of the cowards who repeatedly breach confidentiality — only after receiving a reporter’s guarantee of anonymity. It is preposterous to look the other way when players’ rights to confidentiality are breached, then wave the flag for journalistic integrity to protect the people who violate those rights.”
Cornwell raises an intriguing question. Is it sufficient for a person subject to a fine of up to $500,000 to leak protected information by feeding it to a reporter pursuant to a promise of anonymity?
Though we think reporters should not be required to disclose their sources, we also think that the league needs to take more effective measures to keep confidential information that is supposed to be kept confidential.