The union filed an unfair labor practice charge against the company, and the NLRB, in a split decision, ruled that the company had violated the NLRA by refusing to give the financial statement to the union.
Benson has filed a claim against both sides: (1) he appealed his NFL suspension right back to Commissioner Goodell, an appeal that will be heard today in New York and (2) he filed an unfair labor practice charge against his own union with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
According to Gould, the NFLPA disclaimed interest prior in 1989 when the NFL had no unfair labor practice claim filed, a sign that if the option to decertify or disclaim were just about the blocking charge, the NFLPA could have gone the decert route over disclaiming interest at that time (See Freeman McNeil v NFL where NFL free agency was eventually reached).