Jan 11
by Jeff Fannell in Uncategorized 0 comments tags: 2017, CBA, MLB, MLBPA, New Year, Reset

Back at it

It’s been a good minute since I’ve been in this space.  From June through December, I was blessed to be actively involved with the Major League Baseball Players Association as they hammered out a new collective bargaining agreement with MLB.  It was a challenging and rewarding time; the culmination of over two years of working as a consultant to the PA for what was a particularly challenging round of bargaining. By far, the best aspect of it all was agreeing to a deal that is fair and equitable for the players and the clubs.  A close second was the opportunity to work closely with a terrific group of talented professionals at the MLBPA.  It was truly rewarding to work alongside the Executive Director, Tony Clark, the brilliant attorneys in the legal department (many of whom are long-time colleagues and friends), and to interact with all of the great people on the PA’s staff who do so much behind the scenes to make life easier. Of course, by reaching a fair deal, we have the assurance of another five years of baseball without a work stoppage.  That is certainly good news for the players and clubs, but also for fans, many […]
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Dec 01
by Jeff Fannell in Football, NFL, Sports, Sports Issues, What's Up With That? 0 comments tags: Arbitration, CBA, Janay Rice, NFL, NFL CBA, NFLPA, Ray Rice, Roger Goodell, Whats up with that?

What’s Up With That?: Don’t Avoid the Inevitable, NFL.

Score a victory for workplace justice.  On November 28, arbitrator Barbara S. Jones, a former U.S. District Court judge, ruled that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell abused his discretion when he suspended Rice indefinitely following a previous two-game suspension for the same incident.  Rice, as most know by now, was suspended two games and fined an additional week’s salary for hitting his then-fiancée Janay Palmer and knocking her unconscious inside an Atlantic City hotel elevator in February. Footage of Rice dragging Janay outside the elevator was available immediately and outraged many.  Then in early September a second videotape showing what happened inside the elevator was released, leading to the Ravens cutting Rice and to the NFL suspending him indefinitely.  Goodell justified this second (and more severe) penalty on the fact that Rice gave a “starkly different sequence of events” than what was captured on the second video.  In overturning the NFL’s suspension Judge Jones found:   While Article 43 of the NFL’s CBA (dealing with Club discipline) provides for just cause, Article 46 (dealing with League discipline) does not. This means Rice had to overcome a higher “abuse of discretion” standard.  In other words, the NFL would prevail so long as […]
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