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BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Former Sabres enforcer Rob Ray is suing the NHL Players Association for a second time over money owed him during the NHL lockout, accusing the union of deceiving him into settling his initial suit two years ago.
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Ray is seeking $2 million in punitive damages and back pay in a suit filed in State Supreme Court in Buffalo in January. The lawsuit first became public Thursday in a report published in the Toronto Star.
The latest lawsuit is a follow up to Ray's first case against the NHLPA filed in December 2004 and settled out of court the following September. Ray had accused the NHLPA of refusing to pay him a monthly stipend -- ranging between $5,000 and $10,000 -- during the lockout which wiped out the 2004-05 season.
Ray eventually agreed to a settlement, and received an undisclosed amount of money, after the union informed him it would not distribute any more money to players out of its compensation fund after the lockout ended.
In his second lawsuit, Ray said he was shut out again when the union, following his settlement, did in fact distribute the surplus of its compensation fund to both current and retired players.
By doing so, Ray said, the NHLPA went back on its word and "falsely, fraudulently, and with the intent to deceive and defraud," got him to settle the first suit.
Messages left with the NHLPA and the lawyer representing the union in the suit were not immediately returned.
Ray's lawyer, David Elibol, declined comment.
Ray, who completed his 15-year NHL career with the Ottawa Senators in 2004, has spent the past three years as a TV broadcaster with the Sabres.
