Final Cases, Acts, and Rules
Sherman antitrust act of 1890
"Every contract, combination . . . or conspiracy, in restraint of trade . . ." In 1908 the Supreme Court upheld the Sherman Antitrust Act as it applied to labor unions Said conspiring to constrain trade, forcing business to pay higher wages which increases costs to employer and thus product/services Didn't focus on worker, only focused on business
Seitz Decision
(MLB) players became free agents upon playing one year for their team without a contract, effectively nullifying baseball's reserve clause Arbitration decision influenced the commencement of free agency in other professional sports leagues
Clayton Act
Act that minimally restricted the use of injunctions against labor and legalized peaceful strikes, picketing, and boycotts.
Bridgeman v. NBA (1987)
After good faith bargaining, the non-statutory labor exemption last for as long as the employer continues to impose the particular restraint Once impasse has been reached, an employer may unilaterally implement changes that are reasonably comprehended within the pre-impasse proposals Brought unrestricted free agency to the NBA
Norris-LaGuardia Act
Allows employees to organize as collective bargaining unit
Rozelle Rule
An NFL rule that required a team who signed a player to provide compensation to the former team NFL reserve clause; kept salaries low
Toolson v. New York Yankees (1953)
Antitrust act doesn't include baseball; Upheld Federal Baseball case
Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore v. National League of Professional Baseball (1922)
Antitrust laws do not apply to professional baseball. Baseball does not affect interstate commerce Legitimized Reserve clause
McCourt v. California Sport (1979)
Applied MacKey test and found that the reserve system was incorporated into the CBA through bona fide arm's length bargaining and so it was exempt from antitrust laws
Lindland v. United States Wrestling Assoc.
Argument on who should represent US at Olympics (Lindland protested results of match he lost) Arbitrator Burns ordered a rematch which Lindland won Arbitrator Campbell approved the result of the original bout and ignores result of rematch Stevens Act does not authorize arbitration about propriety of another arbitrator's decision. Letter from member of Congress tell a judge how to decide a pending case reflects a misunderstanding of the difference between legislative and judicial functions "It is best...for each institution to hew to its constitutional function."
Bd of Regents v. U of OK & UGA Athletic Assoc. (1984)
Awarding TV rights of college football games to only two networks violated antitrust laws and was an unreasonable restraint of trade Launched ESPN and other cable sports networks
C.B.C. Dist. & Mkt, Inc. v. MLB Advanced Media
Baseball stats are public domain (free speech) and can be used for fantasy sport
Agnew (2010)
Claimed that NCAA conspires with colleges to prohibit multi-year athletic scholarships
Bassett v. NCAA & UK Athletic Assoc. (2008)
Claimed that bans affect interstate commerce by preventing schools from hiring boycotted coaches to generate sports revenue and prevent coach from seeking gainful employment Alleged no antitrust injury Complaint wholly devoid of any allegation on the commercial nature of the NCAA's enforcement of the rules it determined Bassett had violated
NCAA v. Smith (1999)
Claims that transfer eligibility rules violated Sherman Act were dismissed NCAA changed rules afterwards anyway
Doe v. Duncanville Indep. Sch, Dist. (1995)
Coach cannot lead prayer before or after games
Borden v. Sch. Dist. of Twp. of E. Brunswick ('08)
Community knew coach had lead prayer for 23 years, so reasonable observer would perceive as display of governmental endorsement of religion
Curt Flood Act of 1998
Congress' attempt to legislatively override the antitrust ruling in Federal Baseball case MLB player can sue under antitrust laws if they decertify union
Walk-on Football Players (2006)
Denied class certification for suit claiming NCAA rules limiting the number of scholarships could award violated antitrust law
Anti-siphoning Rules
Designed to prevent subscription-based cable-casters from purchasing rights to televise important and culturally significant events that had been traditionally aired on free-to-air television cable monopolies unconstitutional except for specific events such as the Superbowl or March Madness
NBA v. Williams (1995)
Draft and salary cap are protected by the non-statutory labor exemption Salary cap is mandatory bargaining point
Boris v. USFL (1984)
Draft rule consisted group boycott; per se violation of s. 1 of Sherman Act
Hamm
Error identified with the benefit of hindsight, whether admitted or not, cannot be grounds for reversing the result of field of play decisions during competition
American Needle v. NFL (2010)
Exclusive deal with Reebok for all teams, cut out American needle Issue: 32 teams is a single-entity for antitrust purposes or a collection of 32 separate entities Decision: NFL is not a single entity Players didn't want it to be considered one entity; would have been able to price fix player salaries then League is subject to section one of the Sherman Act and antitrust scrutiny Supreme court did not rule if there was or wasn't a violation
Terrell Owens
Filed grievance with support of NFLPA alleging four game suspension was too harsh Lost arbitration and $80K
Moore v. ND (1998)
Fired after age discrimination claim Notre Dame had willfully violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act
Blackout Rule
Games not broadcast within 75 miles of stadium when not sold out 72 hours ahead of opening kickoff.
Chaudhuri v. State of Tennessee (1997)
Generic Prayers have a secular purpose of dignifying or memorializing a public event, that they do no entangle church and state, and that they do not impermissibility advance or inhibit religion
Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act
Grant USOC authority "to provide resolution of conflicts and disputes involving amateur athletes"
World Hockey Association (1972)
Granted injunction barring NHL from seeking injunctions under state law to prevent players from moving to WHA
Haywood effect
Hardship Rule moved to straight from high school Concern for older players 2005 CBA-one year removed/age 19
American Football League v. National Football League (1963)
Insufficient evidence of NFL's intent to monopolize; natural monopoly that did not violate antitrust laws.
Brown v. Pro-Football, Inc. (1996)
Issue: Owners capping Developmental Players Squad salaries was lawful Outcome: Non-statutory labor exemption extends beyond impasse and allows employers to impose unilateral restraints outside of the collective bargaining process without fear of anti-trust violation
Powell v. NFL (1989)
Issue: did enforcing expired CBA violate antitrust law? Outcome: Non-statutory labor exemption extends beyond impasse;League did not violate antitrust laws when it continued to enforce terms of expired CBA; Unions forced to decertify in order to gain leverage during bargaining relationship
Lee v. Weisman (1992)
Issue: prayer in a ceremony such as graduation outcome: violates the Establishment Clause; Made attendance and participation mandatory
Elk Grove Unified School Dist. v. Newdow (2004)
Issue: whether 1954 insertion by Congress of the phrase "under God" into the Pledge of Allegiance violated the First Amendment's Establishment Clause Outcome: Supreme Court ruled that Newdow lacked standing so didn't rule
Menora v. Ill. High Sch. Assn. (1982)
Jewish basketball players failed to prove the ban on headgear placed an undue burden on religious practices
In re NCAA Student Athlete Name and Likeness Litigation
Keller and O'Bannon sued for use of student-athletes' names, pictures and likeness without their permission and without compensation for a video game O'bannon won; on appeal
Ohno
Korea appealed the blocking disqualification of skater
Warrior Sports v. NCAA (2010)
Lacrosse rule change affected all manufacturers equally so not an antitrust violation
Molinas v. NBA (1961)
Legitimate interest in banning gambling Not a violation of antitrust law for suspension
Hennessy v. NCAA (1977)
Limit on number of football assistance coaches was not unreasonable restraint of trade after weighing pro and anticompetitive benefits of restriction
Adidas v. NCAA (1999)
Limiting size of logos on uniforms did not have anticompetitive effect in a properly defined market Did not affect only one brand Limited in size, not quantity
Fraser v. MLS (2000)
MLS doesn't have enough power to collude
Justice v. NCAA (1983)
NCAA's amateurism rules have a substantial effect on interstate commerce but reasonably related to the NCAA's goals of preserving amateurism and promoting fair competition
Gaines v. NCAA (1990)
NCAA's eligibility rules insulated from Sherman Act
L.A. Mem'l Coliseam Comm'n v. NFL (1984)
NFL franchise relocation rules violated section 1 of the Sherman Act (unreasonably restrain trade across state lines)
Radovich v. National Football League (1957)
NFL is subject to Antitrust laws
USFL v. NFL (1988)
NFL pressure of major television networks not to form an agreement with USFL was unlawful monopolization
Mackey v. National Football League (1976)
No bona fide arm's length bargaining concluded that for the non-statutory labor exemption to apply, collective bargaining resulting from good faith arm's length bargaining must have occurred. Rozelle Rule was unreasonable restraint of trade
Clarett v. NFL (2004)
Non-statutory exemption barred antitrust claim for NFL rule that player couldn't be drafted until 3 years after high school graduation Non-statutory exemption applies to both labor members and future members
McNeil v. NFL (1992)
Plan B Free Agency (Allowed clubs to protect the rights to 37 players) Outcome: League compensation rules were more restrictive than reasonably necessary to achieve the objective of establishing or maintaining competitive balance in NFL; Established unrestricted free agency
Air Force Academy
Poem posted by coach written by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes asked to be removed by Academy officials
Santa Fe Indp Sch. Dist. v. Doe (2000)
Prayer in public school over the loudspeaker before game violated Establishment Clause
Lassonde v. Pleasanton Unified Sch. Dist. (2003)
Principal disallowed parts of student's graduation speech that were heavily religious If the principle had approved of the speech, it would be an endorsement
Wagner Act (National Labor Relations Act)
Regulates relations between employers and employees Established the right of employees to: Form unions, Bargain collectively, Strike Creates NLRB requires good faith bargaining (on wages, hours, other terms/conditions)
Seitz Decision
Reserve clause granted team only one additional year, not a perpetual right.
Law v. NCAA (1998)
Restricted Earnings Coaches' salaries limited Pro-competitive justification that it provides competitive balance did not outweigh costs Settled out of court
Per Se Rule Analysis
Rule that holds that certain types of trade agreements or arrangements are inherently anticompetitive and therefor illegal/invalid
Haywood v. NBA (1971)
Rule that required player to be 4 years removed from high school to be drafted constituted a group boycott in violation of the Sherman ActDidn't require college; Haywood was a pro; granted injunction to let Haywood play
White v. NCAA
Settled case claiming antitrust violations for engaging in horizontal agreement to exclude scholarship from full cost of attendance
Engel c. Vitale (1962)
State officials may not mandate that a prayer be recited at the beginning of each school day, even if it is denominationally neutral and student participation is optional
Landis
Stripped of 2006 Tour de France title after testing positive for synthetic testosterone levels Attempted to show work of French lab was problematic Outcome: upheld decision to strip title
Wallace v. Jaffree (1985)
Struck down Alabama statute adding "or voluntary prayer" authorizing a period of silence for meditation in public schools
ACLU of NJ v. Black Horse Pike Reg'l Bd of Ed. ('96)
Struck down policy that allowed class officers to poll graduating class re: prayer, moment of reflection, or nothing at all for graduating ceremony
Adler v. Duval County Sch. Bd. (1994)
Student's religious message at graduation ok because not school officials' choice
Jones v. Clear Creek Ind. Sch. Dist. (1992)
Student-led prayer at high school graduation, which was approved by a vote of the students, and was non-sectarian and non-proselytizing was acceptable
Flood v. Kuhn (1972)
Sued to become free agent, argued reserve clause violated antitrust act Outcome: upheld Federal Baseball case but didn't agree; up to congress to change the act
Banks v. NCAA (1992)
Supported NCAA's intent to create a clear line of demarcation between amateur and professional sports
MLBPA v. Steve Garvey
Supreme Court - if an arbitrator is even arguably construing or applying the contract and acting within the scope of his authority the fact that a court is convinced he committed serious error does NOT suffice to overturn his decision. Outcome: Reversed the appeal's reversal, ruled against Garvey
Latrell Sprewell
Suspended full year and guaranteed contract terminated for allegedly choking coach during practice Outcome: Arbitrator issued award in favor of Sprewell, suspension reduced and reinstated guaranteed contract
Endorsement test
The government cannot endorse, favor, promote, or prefer any religious belief or practice over another Gov action is invalid if creates perception in reasonable observer's mind that government is endorsing or disapproving of a certain religion
coercion test
The government may not coerce anyone to support or participate in religion or its exercise
Lemon test (Lemon v. Kutzman (1971))
The three-part test for Establishment Clause cases that a law must pass before it is declared constitutional: it must have a secular purpose; it must neither advance nor inhibit religion; and it must not cause excessive entanglement with religion.
Tanaka v. USC (2001)
Transfer rules were not commercial and therefore not subject to Sherman Act scrutiny
Facenda v. NFL Films
Violated right of publicity by using Facenda's "voice of g-d" without consent Estate of Facenda won
County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union (1989)
constitutionality of two recurring holiday displays located on public property in downtown Pittsburgh outcome: menorah was not endorsment while nativity was
USOC v International Fed of Bodybuilders
no likelyhood of confusion between "Mr. Olympia" contest and Olympic trademark Bodybuilders won
Rule of Reason Analysis
not blatantly illegal; plaintiff must allege and prove an anticompetitive effect within a cognizable relevant market; burden shifts to the defendant to show that the conduct's pro competitive effect outweighs anticipative effect
Quick Look Analysis
observer with even a rudimentary understanding of economics could conclude that the arrangements in questions would have an anticompetitive effect on consumers and markets
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
prohibits job discrimination against people age 40 and older based on age
Mackey test
three-prong test for assessing the applicability of the antitrust exemption: Restraint primarily effects the parties of the agreement; The provisions is a mandatory subject of bargaining under the NLRA (Wages, hours, other terms of employment); The restraint was a product of bona fide arm's length transactions
Bd. of Supervisors of LSU v Smack Apparel
use of school colors can create confusion LSU received damages