NHL sues players union to restore Calgary defenseman's 20-game ban

By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, June 8 (Reuters) - The National Hockey League on
Wednesday filed a lawsuit against its players union, seeking to
restore a 20-game suspension against Calgary Flames defenseman
Dennis Wideman that a "neutral" arbitrator later cut in half.
In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in
Manhattan, the NHL said arbitrator James Oldham "applied his own
brand of industrial justice" by ignoring the findings of
Commissioner Gary Bettman, who upheld the original suspension,
and substituting a shorter 10-game ban.
A lawyer for the NHL Players' Association had no immediate
comment. Oldham did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
Wideman was suspended for cross-checking NHL linesman Don
Henderson from behind with his stick during a Jan. 27, 2016 game
with the Nashville Predators.
According to the league, the blow caused Henderson to fall
face first onto the ice, leaving him with a concussion and
unable to resume work as a linesman.
The players' union appealed the 20-game ban to Oldham, a
Georgetown University law professor, as permitted under its
collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
But the NHL said Oldham did not act as a "neutral discipline
arbitrator" (NDA) in halving Wideman's ban, given the lack of
"substantial evidence" that Bettman's decision was wrong.
"The NDA exceeded his authority under the CBA and applied
his own brand of industrial justice by disregarding the standard
of review set forth in the CBA," the complaint said.
In September, U.S. District Judge Richard Berman in
Manhattan said National Football League Commissioner Roger
Goodell may have administered his own "industrial justice" in
suspending New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for four
games over deflated footballs used in a championship game.
Berman voided that ban, but a divided federal appeals court
in Manhattan restored it on April 25. Brady and the
NFL players union are trying to overturn the latter ruling.
Wideman had served 19 games of the original 20-game
suspension when Oldham ruled, and was to have been refunded the
salary he was going to forfeit as a result of the longer ban.
The case is National Hockey League v National Hockey League
Players' Association, U.S. District Court, Southern District of
New York, No. 16-04287.