Adrian Peterson's Suspension Overturned By Judge, NFL Appeals

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – It was another big day in the on-going legal saga of Adrian Peterson as a judge threw out an arbitrator's decision to suspend him.

U.S. District Court Judge David Doty said the NFL unlawfully changed the rules to suspend Peterson.  Peterson was suspended from the NFL in November for violating its personal conduct policy. His suspension came after he pleaded no contest to reckless assault for hitting his son with a switch.

He appealed and lost that ruling in December, leading to arbitration that a judge now said wasn't fair. Joe Daly has been an arbitrator since 1974. He said Judge Doty's order to throw out the arbitrator's decision to suspend Peterson was based on two things.

One: The arbitrator did not follow past practices, which is a huge component of interpreting the contract. Secondly, the judge said this arbitrator also exceeded his authority.

For Peterson, this ruling is a first down in pursuit of a touchdown, or total re-instatement back in the league. Judge Doty's ruling said the arbitrator did not follow the law of the shop or the way the contract between players and the NFL has been interpreted in the past.

"And the law of the shop was that you must apply past practice and past practice was two games suspension for domestic abuse," Daly said.

Daly said page 14 of Judge Doty's ruling said the arbitrator failed to meet his duty under the NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement.

"The judge is saying 'Hey Mr. Arbitrator, follow the collective bargaining agreement. follow the law of the shop the way you've interpreted this in the past,'"Daly said.

The ruling also claims the arbitrator exceeded his authority by handing down more than the two-game suspension previously given to players involved in domestic situations.

"You're saying even under the old policy I could give him a six-game suspension. No you couldn't, you exceeded your authority," Daly said.

Daly said Judy Doty did not feel it was necessary to address the issue of the arbitrator's relationship with the NFL.

"Even though it was an issue that was presented to him, whether this arbitrator has what he called evident partiality, is he evidently partial towards the NFL because he worked for the NFL in the last two years he's made $2.5 million from the NFL," Daly said.

Once he is reinstated, the Vikings are free to speak with Peterson about his status with the team. Team officials have said recently they would welcome him back with open arms. If they were to work out a trade, it cannot happen until the league's year starts on March 10.

So what does this mean for Peterson?

Daley said it should mean Peterson is paid for the games he was wrongfully suspended for. He said if he was giving advice to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, he would tell him to cut AP a check, apologize to him and the NFL player's union.

The NFL Players Association released a statement Thursday on the decision.

"This is a victory for the rule of law, due process and fairness. Our collective bargaining agreement has rules for implementation of the personal conduct policy and when those rules are violated, our union always stands up to protect our players' rights. This is yet another example why neutral arbitration is good for our players, good for the owners and good for our game," DeMaurice Smith, the NFLPA's executive director, said.

The NFL announced Thursday afternoon it will appeal the decision in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Peterson will return to the league's exempt list while the legal process plays out.

The Minnesota Vikings released a statement on the matter Thursday. It reads, "Adrian Peterson is an important member of the Minnesota Vikings, and our focus remains on welcoming him back when he is able to rejoin our organization. Today's ruling leaves Adrian's status under the control of the NFL, the NFLPA and the legal system, and we will have no further comment at this time."

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