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 […]