NFL Update: NFLPA Files Grievance Against League’s Player Conduct Policy

By Cheri Cheng - 23 Jan '15 11:44AM

As expected, the NFL Player Association has filed a non-injury expedited grievance over the league's new personal conduct policy, which was implemented last month after the league's owners gave their unanimous support.

The NFLPA argued that any changes made to the personal conduct policy should have accounted for the association. The association had presented a proposal, which the NFL rejected prior to implementing their own policy on Dec. 10. When the league presented the new policy, they did not give the union "the professional courtesy of seeing the NFL's new personal conduct policy before it hit the presses."

The NFLPA continued, stating, "their unilateral decision and conduct today is the only thing that has been consistent over the past few months."

The league wrote in a statement:

"The league's revised conduct policy was the product of a tremendous amount of analysis and work and is based on input from a broad and diverse group of experts within and outside of football, including current players, former players, and the NFL Players Association.

We and the public firmly believe that all NFL personnel should be held accountable to a stronger, more effective conduct policy. Clearly, the union does not share that belief."

The grievance stated that the policy violates the collective bargaining agreement because "the NFL adopted the new Policy without the consent, and over the objections, of the NFLPA," Adam Schefter with ESPN.com reported.

Schefter added that in the grievance, the NFLPA refers to Article 2, Section 1 of the CBA, which states that the CBA "supersedes any conflicting provisions in the Settlement Agreement, the NFL Constitution and Bylaws, the NFL Rules, or any other document affecting terms and conditions of employment of NFL players." According to the union, the new personal conduct policy is an "NFL Rule," and therefore, it should conform to the terms of the CBA.

The NFLPA is reportedly seeking a cease and desist order to be added to the implementation of the policy.