Arbitrator Harold Henderson is a rubber stamp

[Galian Beast]

What he (Doty) said (if I understand correctly...and I don't claim, like some people, to know it all...) was that you couldn't apply new punishment standards to old crimes which is what I believe BKight13 was saying and I was agreeing to. Under the old standard of discipline, Hardy would have gotten 2 games.
If I have my facts/understanding of the situation wrong, I'm sure you (or someone) will set me straight.

This is what Doty has to say as it relates to Rice

The NFL urges the court to ignore Judge Jones’s decision, as did Henderson, arguing that Rice is distinguishable with respect to “critical facts” because it involved a double discipline issue. Am. Nat’l Can Co. v. United Steelworkers of Am., 120 F.3d 886, 890 (8th Cir. 1997). The court finds no valid basis to distinguish this case from the Rice matter.


Although Henderson purported to rely on factual differences between Rice and this case, he did not explain how those differences would justify a different result. Nor did Henderson explain why the well-recognized bar against retroactivity did not apply to Peterson.

However he didn't say anything in terms of the fairness of the suspension nor did he overturn the suspension.

This case isn't identical to Peterson's though it is similar. The NFL made a lot of mistakes that I presume they are trying to workaround here, and those workarounds may prove crippling to Hardy.

 

[Galian Beast]

First, what is baseless?

Second, as far as the Cowboys' needs (and, really, that's all I'm looking at), the Cowboys benefit more if he challenges the suspension in court. Why?

1. If he does, that means he gets to play.
2. Let's assume the case gets solved during the season ...
a.) if it's two games, that's just two games of rest for him.
b.) if it's six games, it's still deeper in the season at a time when Gregory and Lawrence are more experienced in their pass rushing abilities.
3. Let's assume the court upholds the 10-game suspension. It's likely going to come in the middle of the season or even at the end. If in the middle, then the above scenario with Lawrence and Gregory applies. If at the end of the season, we may not need him anyway for the 2016 season.

I say challenge it in court.

It's basically to say that an uninjured player who is maintaining his condition would be ineffective returning from a 6-10 game suspension.

The case will be resolved before the season begins, so that is a pretty poor assumption.

If Gregory and/or Lawrence are injured during this time, having Hardy would have been helpful.

If he can get a favorable settlement, I would suggest taking it.

 

[Galian Beast]

Key issues for Hardy

Jones said that had Rice been suspended for the year in the first place, she would not have had any issue with the suspension.
Doty said that he was not ruling on the fairness of the suspension, but that the process itself was wrong.

The key for Doty though is that part of that process is differentiating between Peterson, Rice, and Hardy. The NFL made a mistake in regards to reinstating Peterson in regards to further punishing Hardy.

 

[LandryFan]

[/quote]The NFL urges the court to ignore Judge Jones’s decision, as did Henderson, arguing that Rice is distinguishable with respect to “critical facts” because it involved a double discipline issue. Am. Nat’l Can Co. v. United Steelworkers of Am., 120 F.3d 886, 890 (8th Cir. 1997). The court finds no valid basis to distinguish this case from the Rice matter.


Although Henderson purported to rely on factual differences between Rice and this case, he did not explain how those differences would justify a different result. Nor did Henderson explain why the well-recognized bar against retroactivity did not apply to Peterson.

However he didn't say anything in terms of the fairness of the suspension nor did he overturn the suspension.

This case isn't identical to Peterson's though it is similar. The NFL made a lot of mistakes that I presume they are trying to workaround here, and those workarounds may prove crippling to Hardy.[/quote]

I'm going off of my feeble memory here, but I sure thought that a part of the Doty ruling stated that the league could not apply the new standards of conduct punishment to cases that occurred before the new standards came to be. Now I certainly may be getting the Rice and Peterson cases confused, but I thought that was what Doty applied to one of them.

 

[Blackspider214]

Heck, the NFL and Brady are trying to work out a deal before it even goes to arbitration. I see no such headlines for Hardy

He will go to court, just hope it is settled by week 1.

Brady is the golden boy of the NFL. And Kraft and Goodell are very tight. Hardy is a nobody to this league.

 

[Galian Beast]

I'm going off of my feeble memory here, but I sure thought that a part of the Doty ruling stated that the league could not apply the new standards of conduct punishment to cases that occurred before the new standards came to be. Now I certainly may be getting the Rice and Peterson cases confused, but I thought that was what Doty applied to one of them.

Doty stated that the league could not apply new standards of conduct to punish Peterson, it didn't say that it couldn't suspend Peterson or punish him under the previous rules.

He specifically stated that he was not ruling on the fairness of the NFL's decision nor was he overturning his suspension.

 

[Galian Beast]

This was Doty's ruling


Because the court finds that the arbitration award must be vacated on the grounds set forth above, it need not decide whether Henderson was evidently partial or whether the award violates fundamental fairness. The court will remand the matter for further proceedings before the arbitrator as permitted by the CBA. See U.S. Postal Serv. v. Am. Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO, 907 F. Supp. 2d 986, 995 (D. Minn. 2012) (holding that the appropriate remedy on vacatur is to remand the case for further arbitration proceedings consistent with the CBA).

 

[Galian Beast]

Galian, are you in school for Sports journalism? I've been monitoring all the threads you've been creating and they come off with the same descent that most sports media use to raise the ire of the readers / listeners. It's as if you're always trying to bait the users into arguments.

no

 

[Stash]

If the court is trying to rule on the fairness of the penalty, I don't see how it wouldn't order an injunction. But I'm not a lawyer, although I have stayed at a Holiday Inn.

And the court should also be aware of the NFL's prior attempt to circumvent Doty's prior ruling through appeal. An injunction forces both sides to work toward a timely resolution, rather than the gamesmanship of appeals and further delays.

 

[Stash]

This was Doty's ruling


Because the court finds that the arbitration award must be vacated on the grounds set forth above, it need not decide whether Henderson was evidently partial or whether the award violates fundamental fairness. The court will remand the matter for further proceedings before the arbitrator as permitted by the CBA. See U.S. Postal Serv. v. Am. Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO, 907 F. Supp. 2d 986, 995 (D. Minn. 2012) (holding that the appropriate remedy on vacatur is to remand the case for further arbitration proceedings consistent with the CBA).

Clear as mud.

 

[lostar2009]

I don't see how Hardey is looking at a suspension. The Panthers already suspended him a year.

 

[JackOfNoTrades]

is there a time table for his appeal to be heard? I thought I recall this week but am not able to find anything specific that backs that up.

 

[Galian Beast]

is there a time table for his appeal to be heard? I thought I recall this week but am not able to find anything specific that backs that up.

May 28th.

 

[Galian Beast]

I don't see how Hardey is looking at a suspension. The Panthers already suspended him a year.

The question is will the NFL's rubber stamp see reason and see that a judge has already overruled him, and that he should proceed based on that ruling or will he act in his position as a rubber stamp and simply uphold the suspension?

 

[Tass]

Did Hardy beat his girlfriend or not?

 

[Galian Beast]

Did Hardy beat his girlfriend or not?

That's not relevant to this process.

 

[tyke1doe]

It's basically to say that an uninjured player who is maintaining his condition would be ineffective returning from a 6-10 game suspension.

But that's what many NFL players have said. There's a difference between conditioning and football conditioning just as there is a difference between conditioning your body without contact and conditioning your body with contact.

Long layoffs tend to impact players negatively.

The case will be resolved before the season begins, so that is a pretty poor assumption.

And you know this how? If it goes to court - which is what we're talking about - it's subject to the court docket. Who knows how long it takes?

If Gregory and/or Lawrence are injured during this time, having Hardy would have been helpful.

We're dealing in hypotheticals, of course. I don't know whether Gregory and Lawrence will improve in their pass rushing skills; you don't know if they'll be injured or not.

I'm merely assuming that as they gain experience, they will be better pass rushers.

If he can get a favorable settlement, I would suggest taking it.

But what is a favorable settlement? I don't think six games is a favorable settlement, especially when a judge has basically overturned other NFL penalties.

I would roll the dice if it came up anything less than four at the maximum.

 

[tyke1doe]

Did Hardy beat his girlfriend or not?

Let's not go there. We've rehashed that a dozen times, and it has always led to closed threads.

 

[Galian Beast]

But that's what many NFL players have said. There's a difference between conditioning and football conditioning just as there is a difference between conditioning your body without contact and conditioning your body with contact.

Long layoffs tend to impact players negatively.

Can you cite examples of players who missed time due to non-injuries and fell of precipitously

And you know this how? If it goes to court - which is what we're talking about - it's subject to the court docket. Who knows how long it takes?

There is a precedence for this time table. It isn't that long, and if it were to extend into time Hardy's legal team would request an injunction and would likely win that injunction.

We're dealing in hypotheticals, of course. I don't know whether Gregory and Lawrence will improve in their pass rushing skills; you don't know if they'll be injured or not.

My point was that we don't know how things will progress. Thank you for conceding that.

I'm merely assuming that as they gain experience, they will be better pass rushers.

That's a fine assumption, but they could also be injured, and leave us depleted at the position, where we would need Hardy, least to suggest that we need him in general to win games.



But what is a favorable settlement? I don't think six games is a favorable settlement, especially when a judge has basically overturned other NFL penalties.

6 is more favorable than 10, and Peterson's suspension was not overturned.

I would roll the dice if it came up anything less than four at the maximum.

see the bolded text

 

[BotchedLobotomy]

I agree..............this has settlement written all over it.................6 games is probably what the league is looking at and even though I think it is total BS, I would advise Hardy to take the deal.

I also think it is no accident that we play almost our entire divisional schedule within the first 6 games of the season when normally all the division games at put at the end of the season. This was obviously done on purpose.

Dude, Seriously, you need to put the tinfoil hat away. Do you realize the effort it would take to schedule all these division games into the first six weeks just to spite one of the NFL's biggest draws and more specifically because of one player? First of all, I am guessing the schedule was pretty complete before the Hardy suspension was even handed down. Heck, I am sure it was almost complete before Hardy was even signed. Every change and tweak done to the schedule has repercussions up and down the schedule and impacts every team in the league. To imply that the NFL is conspiring to punish the Cowboys and reward the rest of the NFCE by pushing the NFCE games to the first 6 weeks of the season because they knew Hardy was going to be suspend for those games is nothing short of laughable.