New York: The NFL Players Union on Tuesday appealed the indefinite suspension meted out to Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice after video showed him punching his fiancee.
The players’ union said the action “is to protect the due process rights of all NFL players”.
A statement from the union said the appeal “is based on supporting facts that reveal a lack of a fair and impartial process, including the role of the office of the Commissioner of the NFL.”
The NFLPA has asked that a neutral and jointly selected arbitrator hear the case “as the Commissioner and his staff will be essential witnesses in the proceeding and thus cannot serve as impartial arbitrators.”
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell initially banned Rice for two games over the February incident in a casino elevator, prompting criticism from activists combating domestic violence.
He imposed the harsher punishment in August after the video of the actual punch delivered by Rice to Janay Palmer — who is now his wife — was posted online by TMZ.
His indefinite suspension came shortly after the Ravens sacked Rice as public outrage grew over the video.
One argument of the appeal is that an employee can’t be punished twice by his employer for the same offence, “when all of the relevant facts were available to the employer at the time of the first punishment.”
When Goodell announced the indefinite suspension of Rice, he said he hadn’t seen the video of the punch, which he said showed details substantially different from the account Rice gave of what happened in the elevator when he spoke to Goodell about the incident.
