Judge Nelson rules in favor of players in lockout battle
Photo by AP (File) Judge Susan Nelson. This undated photo courtesy of the U.S. District Court in Minnesota shows U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson.
U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson lifted the NFL’s lockout of its players on Monday, ruling in a 89-page decision that players are suffering irreparable harm by being barred from playing football.
Nelson granted the players a preliminary injunction that ends the lockout which was invoked in early March. The league immediately announce that it was appealing the decision.
“We are pleased with the ruling granting the plaintiffs preliminary injunction to lift the NFL owners’ illegal lockout issued this afternoon by Judge Susan Richard Nelson,” said NFLPA attorney James W. Quinn in a statement. “We believe that this 89-page well-reasoned decision is totally consistent with prior precedent, governing caselaw as well as administrative rulings on all the issues raised by the NFL Defendants. We are confident that this ruling will withstand any appeals.”
The union was elated by the ruling.
“I’m happy for our players and for our fans,” said DeMaurice Smith, co-class counsel and executive director of the NFLPA in a statement. “Today, those who love football are the winners.”
New York Giants defensive lineman Osi Umenyiora is one of the plaintiffs in the case.
“Today’s ruling is a win for the players and for the fans that want to see a full NFL season in 2011,” Umenyiora said in a statement. “The lockout is bad for everyone and players will continue to fight it. We hope that this will bring us one step closer to playing the game we love.”
The victory doesn’t mean a quick return to football. The NFL plans to immediately appeal the decision.
The league issued a statement: “We will promptly seek a stay from Judge Nelson pending an expedited appeal to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. We believe that federal law bars injunctions in labor disputes. We are confident that the Eighth Circuit will agree. But we also believe that this dispute will inevitably end with a collective bargaining agreement, which would be in the best interests of players, clubs and fans. We can reach a fair agreement only if we continue negotiations toward that goal.”
–D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Falcons beat blog
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62 comments Add your comment
The Dogkiller Returns
April 25th, 2011
8:15 pm
FIRST!!
The Grinch
April 25th, 2011
8:18 pm
Any word on how this may impact Free Agency?
The Grinch
April 25th, 2011
8:19 pm
Also, I’m glad Judge Nelson is prodding the NFL toward actually playing some games this year, but my goodness does her salary not allow her to afford a few whitening strips? And this from a Grinch, no less.
mark
April 25th, 2011
8:22 pm
unfortunately this means nothing. owners were expecting it
D. Orlando Ledbetter
April 25th, 2011
8:23 pm
The Grinch — No impact because NFL is seeking a stay. That has to be heard first. Then the appeal. . . Just the beginning of a long legal battle.
BIGBEN42
April 25th, 2011
8:33 pm
A long fight. Hope it’s over by November.
O-me
April 25th, 2011
8:38 pm
I hope the Unions lose their AZZZ…salary and etc are out of control. Its got to stop !
rms
April 25th, 2011
8:40 pm
LOL @ The Grinch. Yeah, man she sure can use some whitening strips bad. I would be pissed if someone posted a photo of me with my teeth looking like I brush them with butter!!
Madison
April 25th, 2011
8:49 pm
She from Minnesota, the state that elected Al (Scumbag) Franken to the senate. Did you really expect sanity?
Bubba
April 25th, 2011
8:53 pm
Can we worry about something that matters?????
D. Orlando Ledbetter
April 25th, 2011
8:57 pm
Judge Nelson is not from Minnesota. Nelson was born in Buffalo, New York and graduated from Oberlin College with a Bachelor of Arts degree with high honors in 1974 and received her Juris Doctor from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
Madison
April 25th, 2011
9:03 pm
She has been there 26 years Orlando!
KC in Smyrna
April 25th, 2011
9:11 pm
I hope the stay is denied. ESPN states the anti-trust lawsuit could take over 12 months before it is heard. This way we have football in 2011 under 2010 rules. They can fight out the legal battle while we watch football.
D. Orlando Ledbetter
April 25th, 2011
9:17 pm
KC in Smyrna — Neither side really wants the 2010 rules. They can also negotiate and settle their differences, including the lawsuit.
Wozzeck
April 25th, 2011
9:38 pm
@O-Me: The unions are out of control? Do you just repeat what you blindly hear about every other union busting attempt in this country? If you really think the NFLPA is at fault here you’re too dumb to deserve football. Regardless of what you think of unions in general, this situation is not like any other labor situation in the world (with the exception of other pro sports of course). Any business that needs an anti-trust exemption to operate isn’t normal. But go ahead and roll over for the owners. That’s what they’re counting on – that people are too stupid and blinded by politics to realize how much they’re in the wrong here.
Dennis
April 25th, 2011
9:48 pm
Before it’s over, the lawyers will be making more money off football than the whiney overpaid football players.
BJR
April 25th, 2011
9:53 pm
The best way to end the lockout is the stay to be executed and force the players to actually negotiate. They got a sweet deal at the last cba and want to keep it,I understand that but, these are different times with the way the economy is.For such a big business as the nfl is the green bay packers only made 20.000,000. last year tom brady ,peyton manning,and bret favre almost made that.
Brett Favre was once a Falcon
April 25th, 2011
9:56 pm
Trust me. The owners are the bad guys. We get beat up so much that some of our careers only last 20 years. They get all the money and we get accused of things in New York that we didn’t do.
TheJaw
April 25th, 2011
10:06 pm
Lets go with college ball ball for a couple of years…..its more exciting anyway…ove some of the games to sunday TV
Big Ben
April 25th, 2011
10:07 pm
Amen, Brett. I was just looking for entertainment in Milledgeville. Do you know just how hard it is to find entertainment in Millegeville? US 441 Business Route, my eye.
hop
April 25th, 2011
10:12 pm
the big losers are the fans who have to pay theses out of control salaries that are paid to this nitwits.
this could drag out in court for ever and i hope it does .
Brett Favre was once a Falcon
April 25th, 2011
10:15 pm
Big Ben, the most fun I ever had in Milledgeville was at Big Lots! I don’t know nothing about the downtown area like you do. I wouldn’t never be one to play around on my wife. After all, I’m a grandpa now.
Not Disappointed!
April 25th, 2011
10:25 pm
Cant we all play along? Go Football!
What’s up with her teeth. That’s just gross!
mike
April 25th, 2011
10:28 pm
If the union was decertified then how can they even be a part of this lawsuit????
C.M. Thornton, III
April 25th, 2011
11:01 pm
It’s a stupid game. It wouldn’t have any negative impact on society as a whole if there was never another game of for-profit football played…
Wozzeck
April 25th, 2011
11:04 pm
If you’re on the owners’ side just because the players have (had) a union then you’re too stupid to participate in this discussion. Come back when you figure out how it’s different and maybe the grownups will let you say something. I’m sure the free market makes you visually aroused so go and take 5 minutes to see how the owners operate in anything but and start from there… If you can’t figure it out well then just tell everyone you don’t care about the pros cause you luv you sum Dawgs!
The Truth
April 25th, 2011
11:11 pm
Used to love football when it rolled around in the fall and then was gone but now with the year round analysis, free agency, through the roof salaries, and fans whose whole way of life is dedicated to following this sport, kinda of losing interest…take the year off!
D. Orlando Ledbetter
April 25th, 2011
11:11 pm
TheJaw — No college ball is not. It’s boring and everybody is playing spread football. That’s not real football. You can keep that. Somebody needs to man-up and run the wishbone and fullhouse again.
Joe
April 26th, 2011
12:55 am
I sooo misread this. I thought it said Judd Nelson rules in favor of players…
and that interested me.
whocares
April 26th, 2011
1:20 am
Who really cares about this egotistical and overpaid men….To much protection already…
UGA75
April 26th, 2011
1:42 am
Wozzeck: just because you don’t like someones comments doesn’t mean they are stupid. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and this is a forum to express those opinions. If you don’t like what other write, don’t read it or present clear facts supporting your opinion. I quit attending Baseball games after their last work stoppage, and haven’t missed it a bit. The issue here is a billion dollars and how to split it, the other 8 billion already determined. The players are overpaid, the owners make too much money, everyone is wrong no side can possibly be right. It would be real justice if the Judge dissolved the NFL and told everyone to start over.
Dr. Warren
April 26th, 2011
3:28 am
Terrible timing for this considering the current state of the economy + 10% unemployment. The issue that the average player really should be asking himself: is a few million bucks worth the chance that I’ll end up livin with brain damage after I’m 40.
JSS
April 26th, 2011
4:47 am
@ Wozzack…
Well said… And yep “stupid” is the right term. The judge is not there to make up the law but interpret the facts put before her and the decisions that were already on the record…
Some bloggers told “Snarky Central” that the owners did not have a leg to stand on regarding this lockout. They walked away from their own agreement. They overplayed their hand. They were put on notice back in 1987 by the same 8th District Circuit Court of Appeal that the next time they were in a CBA and unless the players were initiating the stoppage, then they’d better negotiate an agreement in good faith. That is why Tagliabue worked so hard to get the 1993 CBA. The Jerry Jones, Jerry Richardson, and the anti-NFLPA faction finally got their way and it is blowing up in their collective faces.
They only have one hope now, the Appeals Court in St. Louis is the most conservative and pro-business panel of any in the Nation, But if they rule in the owners favor, they are going to strike down their own circuit’s earlier rulings in the Powell and McNeil cases. That would mean going to the Supreme Court next and possibly being put over the knee of the High Court. The 8th Circuit hates that, they have the least cases set aside by the High Court over its history.
And what the heck do you care about her teeth? Oh, but I see who made the comment to begin with on the matter. Still whining about the superficial stuff and never worrying about the substantiate nature of what she crafted in the opinion… Well, it is just another one of his silly side shows.
Judge orders end to NFL lockout – Boston Globe » Necesaro
April 26th, 2011
5:19 am
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April 26th, 2011
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Judge orders end to NFL lockout – Boston Globe
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hmmm
April 26th, 2011
6:23 am
through the roof salaries…. hmmm; someone has to offer and then pay the salary? lets say you were in your third year of working for a company; and you are an awesome employee; bringing in millions of dollars a year for the owner of the company. Then one day going through the warehouse a stack of frigs tipped over, fell on you, and injured your leg; owner comes by and says thats just to damn bad, thanks but your fired. Shouldn’t there be some type of protection for you?
Judge orders end to NFL lockout – Indianapolis Star | Bistro Press
April 26th, 2011
6:44 am
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) [...]
SeenThisB4
April 26th, 2011
6:54 am
The only real “Irreparable Harm” in play is the harm to the football fans who fork over their dollars to watch football. Neither the players or owners are suffering any kind of harm….And of course the lawyers and representatives on both sides have hit the mother lode.
Bill
April 26th, 2011
7:57 am
Millionaires against billionaires. Hard for me to get excited. What if we demand a cut to salaries, profits, and ticket prices by about 75%.
PapaDawg
April 26th, 2011
8:02 am
How about we (fans) don’t show up for the 2011 season. I haven’t been to a Braves game since their strike and I can do the same for football
BOB FROM ACCOUNT TEMPS
April 26th, 2011
8:25 am
how can some judge tell a business owner he must be open for business!
JM
April 26th, 2011
8:49 am
I thought the union decertified. How could they continue to be representing the players in anything?
Dennis
April 26th, 2011
8:50 am
@ PapaDawg – I gave up baseball when the umpires took over the game (by raping the strike zone) and now decide the winners and losers.
MT
April 26th, 2011
8:53 am
D. Orlando Ledbetter SAYS
No college ball is not. It’s boring and everybody is playing spread football. That’s not real football.
Boring? Get real. Spread football is nothing more than a return to the old single wing. An offense that predates anything the pro’s are running now.If major college ball would ever go to a playoff system it
would be huge.
JSS
April 26th, 2011
8:53 am
BOB FROM ACCOUNT TEMPS
April 26th, 2011
8:25 am
“how can some judge tell a business owner he must be open for business!”
Because the “business owner” made an agreement with its employees in 1971 that were equity partners. That way they could maintain an anti-trust exemption except for one key section that Judge Richardson pointed out in her opinion. That section dooms the owners position.
JSS
April 26th, 2011
8:53 am
Excuse, Judge Richard Nelson
Sid
April 26th, 2011
9:04 am
Brett Favre was once a Falcon
April 25th, 2011
9:56 pm
Trust me. The owners are the bad guys. We get beat up so much that some of our careers only last 20 years. They get all the money and we get accused of things in New York that we didn’t do.
********************************************************************************
LT, is that you?
tim
April 26th, 2011
9:05 am
The decision is entirely predictable from a bought and paid for former plaintiffs attorney, now judge, out of the tobacco settlement law firm. She (the judge) notes it would not be unlawful to lock out in a labor dispute. But, because the union disclaimed interest, i.e. tactically sent a letter to the owners saying we have decided we don’t want to represent the players at this moment, she says it is now no longer a “labor dispute”. Thus, it is now illegal for the owners to act together under the antitrust law.
If a court allow this negotiation charade for the nfl players, it would be obliged to allow it in other circumstance. It invites negotiation chaos, not market forces to prevail. But economic market forces have nothing to do with judges B.O. is appointing.
I do give the NFL credit. With the tens of millions they spend on lawyers, one would think they would not fumble every time they have the ball, but they continue to do so, against all odds.
Sid
April 26th, 2011
9:06 am
D. Orlando Ledbetter
April 25th, 2011
11:11 pm
TheJaw — No college ball is not. It’s boring and everybody is playing spread football. That’s not real football. You can keep that. Somebody needs to man-up and run the wishbone and fullhouse again.
**********************************************************
DLed, hush yore mouth.