The league disciplined Peterson last year after he was convicted of injuring his 4-year-old son by hitting him with a switch. The standout running back missed nearly all of the 2014 season. Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
The NFL Players Association asked a federal judge to hold the league in contempt for its disciplinary action in the case of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson.
The NFLPA filed a motion in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday in a 24-page document that included the request for a hearing with U.S. District Court Judge David Doty.
The union cited the April suspension of Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy for domestic violence as the reason behind its contempt filing. It accused the league of defying Doty’s order earlier this year that the NFL’s retroactive application of a new disciplinary policy in Peterson’s case violated the collective bargaining agreeement.
The league disciplined Peterson last year after he was convicted of injuring his 4-year-old son by hitting him with a switch. The standout running back missed nearly all of the 2014 season.
“Today, the players filed a motion in federal court in the Adrian Peterson matter because the Commissioner and NFL have deliberately ignored both the court’s decision from eleven weeks ago and our repeated requests to comply with that order,” NFLPA president Eric Winston said in a statement.
“On February 26th, the NFL was ordered to change their decision in the Peterson matter and reissue a ruling consistent with our collective bargaining agreement. The union made multiple requests to the league office asking the arbitrator, who serves at the direction of the commissioner, to comply with the law and avoid further litigation. Despite our attempts, they have done nothing and leave us no choice but to seek this motion.
“The delay tactics, inconsistencies and arbitrary decision making of the league has continued to hurt the rights of players, the credibility of the league office and the integrity of the collective bargaining agreement. In the absence of any action by the NFL’s governing board of owners, the players have acted to hold the NFL accountable to our players, the CBA and to the law.”
