Antonio Brown ‘faces lawsuit from Albany Empire players after their final paychecks were rescinded’

Former NFL star Antonio Brown is facing a lawsuit from his former employees at the now-expelled Albany Empire, according to a report. 

Brown, who partially owned the indoor football team, is facing the threat of legal action after players’ and coaches’ final paychecks were rescinded, according to a report from The Albany Times Union. 

After discovering the paychecks had been pulled from their bank accounts, the members of the team are reportedly planning a class-action lawsuit against Brown. 

‘I’m frustrated,’ Empire head coach Moe Leggett said, via The Times Union. ‘I’m frustrated. 

‘I tried to give (Brown) the benefit of the doubt. I tried to work with him. I was trying to be the peacemaker, the mediator to make sure things ran smoothly and just under the radar. But I can no longer do that.’

Former NFL star Antonio Brown is facing a lawsuit from his former Albany Empire employees

Empire players and coaches allege their final paychecks were rescinded from their accounts

The report of the lawsuit comes after the Empire was kicked out of the National Arena League on June 15. 

Leggett said that players and coaches were paid on June 15 and 16 but by June 21 the money had been rescinded from their accounts. 

He claimed that the members of the team were still owed $500 each for their final game, which was a loss to the Orlando Predators six days before their expulsion from the league. 

A member of the group chat allegedly took a screenshot of the bank account withdrawal, prompting Leggett to check his own account and discover that his paycheck had also been rescinded. 

The former head coach has now said that he is searching for a lawyer to file a lawsuit against Brown and the trust of which the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers player is a representative. 

Meanwhile, Empire wide receiver Fabian Guerra said he would join a lawsuit against Brown, despite having swiftly found work elsewhere with the Massachusetts Pirates, another Indoor Football League team. 

‘I’m thinking since he didn’t pay us, it’s only the right thing to do,’ Guerra told the Times Union. ‘It’s kind of like bad business by him, but I’m over here in Massachusetts and playing with a new team, so I’m not worried. It sucks it has to come down to that and now there’s going to be a lawsuit, so he just looks bad.’ 

Meanwhile, lineman Brandon Thorpe has said he is having to live with a friend in Troy until he receives his paycheck. 

The former Buccaneers players’ team was kicked out of the National Arena League on June 15

Under terms of league ownership, all teams are required to pay one-seventh of the NAL operating budget, via monthly transactions. The league, in the release, said Brown paid the April assessment but didn’t pay the May 15 installment or a $1,000 fine for conduct detrimental to the league. 

‘After exhausting all avenues, the NAL board of owners have decided unanimously to terminate the membership agreement of the Albany Empire,’ an NAL news release said. 

‘The decision was reached after an emergency conference call of the members in good standing to discuss the Empire’s failure to pay their league mandated and overdue assessments.’

The league said the team accountant informed officials ‘that it didn’t seem like Mr. Brown was going to pay the assessment or fine,’ driving the league to hold the emergency conference call.

Brown, 34, last played an NFL game in January 2022, when he stripped of his Tampa Bay Buccaneers uniform before running off the field against the New York Jets

The membership gave the Empire until noon ET on June 15 to make the payment. When the team didn’t pay, the NAL canceled the Empire’s home game on June 17 against the Jacksonville Sharks and will adjust the rest of the league’s 2023 regular season schedule without the Albany team.

The Empire were 1-6. Brown’s father, Eddie Brown, is a legend in the former Arena Football League and starred for the Albany Firebirds.

Since the younger Brown bought the Empire, the team has been through multiple head coaches, and Brown released both of the quarterbacks on the roster after last weekend’s loss to the Orlando Predators.

The former NFL All-Pro wide receiver, had vowed to play for the team but had yet to do so. He practiced on Wednesday and caught passes from quarterback Dalton Cole, who played at Division III Brevard College and for the Sharks for a short time.