This time, Richie Incognito is going after Jonathan Martin's lawyers.
NFL Media reported early Sunday morning that Incognito, the Miami Dolphins' suspended offensive guard, is accusing Martin's legal counsel of "electing to vilify (him) and the entire Dolphins organization in the court of public opinion," in the grievance he filed Thursday against the Dolphins.
NFL Media obtained a copy of the four-page grievance and reported that Incognito has asked neutral arbitrator Jonathan Marks for an expedited hearing. The hearing tentatively is scheduled for Thursday in South Florida, a source told NFL Media.
Martin's attorney, David Cornwell, refused comment to NFL Media when told of the contents of Incognito's grievance. Incognito is trying to recoup money he is losing because of the suspension. For each week Incognito is banned from playing, he loses almost $250,000 of his $4 million base salary.
According to the grievance, "the club's discipline of Mr. Incognito is inappropriate, unreasonable, arbitrary, disparate, inconsistent with principles of progressive discipline and without just cause," NFL Media reports, and says that the interaction between players was "welcome and mutual and reflected the normal manner in which the various players interacted with one another during the one and one-half season that Mr. Martin and Mr. Incognito were teammates."
The grievance included an accusation that the suspension came without proper warning and that the Dolphins didn't properly advise him that joking among teammates and the use of vulgar or profane language could subject Incognito to disciplinary action.
It also stated that the team "has not and cannot identify any detriment to the club caused by Mr. Incognito," using owner Steve Ross' comments during a news conference Monday that "neither he nor the coaches ever had any indication that anybody in the Dolphins locker room had any issues with Incognito or bullying."
Finally, the grievance stated that "the only detriment to the club arising out of this incident is the harm resulting from the media strategy employed by Mr. Cornwell and Mr. Martin's other representatives.
Miami must decide in early December whether to reinstate Incognito to the roster or release him.
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