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Tired of Deflategate


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the CBA clearly gives the Commissioner the right to proceed the way he is.

 

no federal court is going to over turn a collectively bargained agreement.

 

the NFLPA is pissing in the wind.

 

Maybe. Maybe not. I keep seeing references to this ruling.

 

Of course I am not well versed in this type of thing, but wouldn't this set a precedent that maybe a Massachusetts court might follow?

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Maybe. Maybe not. I keep seeing references to this ruling.

 

Of course I am not well versed in this type of thing, but wouldn't this set a precedent that maybe a Massachusetts court might follow?

 

 

well for starters that former rams equip manager is NOT or never been a member of the NFLPA and is not under the CBA.

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so... the Deflator and his side kick ball rubber can sue Kraft for an unjust firing?

 

 

absolutely......doesn't mean they will win

 

Massachusetts At-Will Employment Rule

The employment-at-will doctrine relies on the proposition that employers and employees alike are and should be free to make choices as they see fit. The doctrine holds that either party can enter or end a working relationship at any time, for any reason, and with or without advance notice.

http://www.hkwg.com/Employment-Massachusetts-At-Will-Rule.html

Edited by papazoid
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Maybe. Maybe not. I keep seeing references to this ruling.

 

Of course I am not well versed in this type of thing, but wouldn't this set a precedent that maybe a Massachusetts court might follow?

 

A few quick thoughts on that ruling.

 

As to whether another court would follow that ruling, the first thing to recognize is that no courts outside of Missouri (or a federal court hearing a Missouri dispute) are obligated to follow that decision (you probably already had a sense of that, but I just wanted to start from the beginning).

 

So, the first question is whether another court would follow the Missouri decision. There's a tendency in the judiciary--not necessarily a good tendency, but a tendency nonetheless--to give more weight to decisions of courts that are considered to be more reputable than other courts. To make a sweeping generalization, the more "reputable" courts tend to be in locations with a rich and respected legal history--New York, Massachusetts, California, D.C, those sorts of places. The short of it is that another court may be less inclined to follow this decision simply because it came from the Missouri Supreme Court.

 

Another factor bearing on the amount of weight another court would give to this decision is how well-reasoned the decision is. Frankly, the Missouri court's decision is a little light on reasoning--the court only takes about 250 words to come to the conclusion that the Commissioner can't serve as the arbitrator, citing only one other Missouri Supreme Court case for authority that in turn cites no authority of its own:

 

 

"Based on the facts of the present case, the terms in the contract designating the commissioner, an employee of the team owners, as the sole arbitrator with unfettered discretion to establish the rules for arbitration are unconscionable and, therefore, unenforceable. The constitution and bylaws provide that the 'League' consists of the team owners. Under the constitution and bylaws, the league 'shall select and employ' the commissioner and set his or her term of employment and compensation. The constitution and bylaws also provide unequivocally that the commissioner is employed by the league; i.e., the team owners.

 

In effect, then, the commissioner is required to arbitrate claims against his employers. In Vincent, this Court found unconscionable a provision in an arbitration contract between a home builder and home purchasers that designated the president of a home builders association as the sole selector of the arbitrator because it found the president of the home builders association was 'an individual in a position of bias.' 194 S.W.3d at 859. Like the president of the home builders association in Vincent, the designated arbitrator, the commissioner, is an individual in a position of bias as the arbitrator.

 

Additionally, due to the lack of any terms in the employment contract or in any document incorporated into the contract, the contract appoints the commissioner as not only the arbitrator but as the person who controls virtually every aspect of the arbitration from establishing the rules and procedures to making the final decision. Those provisions in the arbitration agreement are unconscionable. Id."

 

 

 

Presumably, this isn't the first time that the Commissioner's impartiality has been challenged (or that similar challenges were raised in analogous contexts, like arbitrations in other major sporting leagues), so it's a little troubling that the Missouri court neither cites nor discusses any other decisions under similar circumstances.

 

On the other hand, from the little I know about arbitration agreements, courts are sensitive to ensuring that the arbitrator who will preside over the hearing is not biased toward one of the parties. Here, there's some obvious problems with having the Commissioner, who admitted that he was involved in the decision to suspend Brady, preside over Brady's appeal of that very decision. In fact, the Commissioner's relationship to Brady's appeal is much more direct than in the Missouri case, where the Commissioner would have been presiding over an employment dispute between an employee of the Rams and the club, not a dispute involving the league itself.

Edited by Go Kiko go
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Kind of want to give Roger kudos for having the balls to do this. He knows it will cause wailing and gnashing from all sides, but I think ultimately he's actually pissed now and wants to look Brady in the face and dare him to keep lying. He then can give him a big f u if he doesn't like the way he responds.

I have been thinking on this.

Goodell is going to focus all the Patriots wrong doings on the Guy with the attitude.

Tom.

how dare ye Thomas of Brady !

i hope he screws himself right into the wall. I loathe Brady right down to his pedicure

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