Suspension Expected After Court Upholds NFLPA Arbitration Decision Against Agent Todd France

On May 30, 2025, a Pennsylvania federal court refused NFL player agent Todd France’s request to vacate a December 2023 arbitration decision which ordered France to pay over $800,000 in damages to rival agent Jason Bernstein and which excoriated France for fraudulent conduct. The stage is now set for the NFLPA’s Committee on Agent Regulation and Discipline (CARD) to suspend France, or perhaps revoke his agent certification entirely.

The Bernstein-France Arbitration

In July 2019, Bernstein filed a grievance with the NFLPA against France alleging that he had violated the NFLPA’s regulations by initiating conversations with Bernstein’s client, then-Detroit Lions wide receiver Kenny Golladay, including assisting him in a card signing, and then ultimately signing Golladay as a client. It is not uncommon for agents to bring such cases when they perceive a client to have been stolen, but there has never been a decision finding that an agent violated the regulations (cases frequently settle).

In March 2020, NFLPA Arbitrator Roger Kaplan issued a decision in France’s favor, finding that Bernstein had failed to prove that France engaged in the alleged wrongful conduct.

The Initial Court Challenges

The parties then filed competing actions to vacate or confirm the award. The document discovery in those cases revealed that France had been untruthful during the NFLPA arbitration process. Specifically, France had denied both in a pre-hearing deposition and again at the hearing that he had any involvement with Golladay’s January 2019 autograph event. In fact, emails produced in those cases showed that France and his team had arranged the event and negotiated the contract for the event. Yet, during the arbitration process, France had denied having any documents related to the signing event.

Despite these revelations, a district court declined to vacate the arbitration decision, a high burden under any circumstances.

In an August 2022 decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit found that prominent NFL player agent Todd France had “committed fraud” in securing a victory against rival agent Jason Bernstein in a March 2020 arbitration overseen by the NFL Players Association (NFLPA).

The Third Circuit felt differently – and strongly. It found that France was involved in the autograph signing and that he had “committed fraud” in the arbitration process. It therefore ordered the March 2020 arbitration decision to be vacated.

The Bernstein-France Arbitration Revisited

With the prior decision vacated, Bernstein initiated a new action against France in March 2023.

In a September 2023 decision, Kaplan ruled that the question of whether France had improperly induced Golladay to sign with him and whether he had committed fraud had been fully and fairly decided by the Third Circuit and would not be relitigated. Consequently, the new arbitration was limited solely to the amount of damages France owed Bernstein.

On December 28, 2023, Kaplan issued a decision ordering France to pay Bernstein $810,846.67 in damages, including $450,000 in punitive damages, the first ever such award in the NFLPA arbitration process.

Kaplan, the keeper of the NFLPA arbitration process, was clearly offended by France’s conduct. His decision repeatedly referenced France as having lied or committed fraud, described “lying under oath [as] an abominable offense,” and possibly “also a crime.” Kaplan described “France’s conduct during the 2019 arbitration hearing [as] an affront to good order.” Consequently, Kaplan determined that a “significant response” was “warranted so as to protect the integrity and functionality of the arbitration system and to deter similar misconduct in the future.” For these reasons, Kaplan issued the first ever punitive damages award in an NFLPA arbitration.

The Recent Court Challenges

In March 2024, France filed a petition in federal court to vacate Kaplan’s 2023 decision. France claimed that Kaplan was wrong to accept the Third Circuit’s findings that France had engaged in fraud, that Kaplan should have permitted France to introduce evidence concerning the alleged fraud at the second arbitration, and that Kaplan exceeded his authority by issuing punitive damages.

The Pennsylvania federal court disagreed. The court held that Kaplan fairly permitted the parties to argue the extent to which the Third Circuit’s opinion should control the new arbitration and that he had the authority to apply the Third Circuit’s decision. In finding that Kaplan gave France a fair hearing, the court noted that Kaplan only awarded Bernstein $225,000 in compensatory damages, far less than the $1,213,676 demanded.

The court also found that Kaplan acted reasonably in awarding punitive damages. The court determined that France failed to show that Kaplan “did not make a good faith attempt to interpret the Regulations and the [NFL-NFLPA collective bargaining agreement] in this matter of first impression.”

CARD Has the Ball

While the legal process has played out, France has continued his career as one of the leading agents in the business. Indeed, he represents Walter Nolen, the 16th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals.

The NFLPA stated that it was waiting for a decision on France’s motion to vacate before referring the matter to CARD, a panel of active or former NFL players which has the authority to discipline agents, including by potentially revoking their certification. Of relevance here, the NFLPA Regulations Governing Contract Advisors prohibit “[e]ngaging in unlawful conduct and/or conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, misrepresentation, or other activity which reflects adversely on his/her fitness as a Contract Advisor.” Indeed, in 2016, the NFLPA revoked the certification of Ben Dogra, at the time one of the most successful agents in the business, for a variety of infractions.

With the court’s decision, the path is clear for the NFLPA and CARD to act on France’s status. His competing agents will want and expect a speedy and forceful sanction, which may bring to a close the career of one of the top agents in the business.

France’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.