The Players' Union Sacks the NFL in a Major Court Decision
In what must have been a big shock to the NFL, Federal Judge David Doty overruled a recommendation of a special master and found that NFL violated its collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) with the NFLPA Union when it negotiated the league’s TV contract. Judge Doty found that instead of negotiating the most lucrative deal it could for the owners and players, the NFL got itself a $4 billion slush fund to protect itself from a lockout.
I am assuming the NFL’s lawyers (and the owners) are stunned (probably with red faces) by this decision. First, in the federal court system, it is unusual (to quite rare) for a judge not to follow the recommendation of a special master. A special master is appointed by the judge to handle discovery in a matter and make a decision recommendation for the court to “approve.”
In most cases, that’s exactly what happens. The special master makes a recommendation and the district judge goes with it. But something went wrong here for the NFL.
From his decision, Judge Doty recognized that if the owners had given themselves a $4 billion lockout insurance policy, they violated the CBA’s requirement to negotiate the most lucrative deal for all (including the players). To fulfill this requirement, the NFL should have handed over 60% (as per the CBA) of the $4 billion to the players for their portion of “lockout money.”
Now Judge Doty can affix a financial penalty against the NFL for violating the CBA in its TV deal. I wonder what it will be?
My name is Christopher Fusco. I am the managing partner of Callahan & Fusco, LLC with offices in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.