Judge sides with players, tells NFL to end lockout

The players have won the first significant legal battle in the NFL labor impasse.

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Richard Nelson granted the players' request to end the league-imposed lockout on Monday and rejected NFL arguments that it had the right to continue treating the NFL Players Association as a union.

Nelson validated the players' renunciation of the NFLPA's status as a union -- a decision that she said came with "consequences" -- and rejected the NFL's contention that the move was a sham.

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She ruled that the lockout had to end. The league said it would ask Nelson to stay the order while it appeals to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

"The irreparable harm to the players outweighs any harm an injunction would cause the NFL," Nelson wrote in her decision. She also cited public interest in her ruling and said the NFL's lockout -- which would threatened to shutter the regular season if it lingered into the fall -- was "far from purely a private argument over compensation."

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If no stay is imposed, the league would face the prospect of opening its doors again to players and imposing new work rules for the 2011 league year. It could impose, for example, rules similar to what governed the 2010 season before the collective bargaining agreement expired on March 11.

James Quinn, the class counsel for the players in their antitrust suit, said the NFL had "a day or so" to determine new work rules if no stay is granted.

The decision delighted players. "It's a great win for all those who love the game of football for the fans and the players,'' NFLPA president Kevin Mawae said.

Said New York Giants DE Osi Umenyiora, a named plaintiff, "The lockout is bad for everyone and players will continue to fight it. We hope this will bring us one step closer to playing the game we love."

Much of Nelson's ruling chided the NFL for not recognizing the players' decertification as a union as legitimate. The players, she said, "have proceeded outside of the framework of labor law."

As such, the NFL's plea that its complaint to the National Labor Relations Board -- where it was alleging the NFLPA's decertification as a sham -- was unnecessary, she said.

"The minimal, if any, benefit that might be derived from seeking the NLRB's expertise here is clearly outweighed by the delay involved, particularly where the players are incurring ongoing irreparable harm," Nelson said.

She told the NFL she found their arguments overall "unpersuasive." Moreover, once she decided that jurisdiction belonged with her court, Nelson ruled the NFL had "no defense" against the players' claims.

Nelson said players had proven they have a "fair chance of success" in the antitrust suit they waged against the NFL on March 11. And she said they had clearly "demonstrated they are suffering, and will continue to suffer, irreparable harm."

She cited the restraint imposed on free agents such as four-time MVP Peyton Manning, Logan Mankins and Vincent Jackson as concrete examples of how players were being caused irreparable harm

A lockout deprives those players of opportunities to shop their services that they would have enjoyed in a free market, Nelson said.

The NFL said in a statement that it would plead its case to the appeals court, and vowed that it still planned on winning the dispute.

"We believe that federal law bars injunctions in labor disputes," the NFL said in a statement. "We are confident that the Eighth Circuit will agree. "

Moreover, the league maintained -- even in the face of Nelson's affirmation of the NFLPA's status as a non-bargaining agent -- that it would still resolve the issue through collective bargaining.

"We also believe that this dispute will inevitably end with a collective bargaining agreement, which would be in the best interests of players, clubs and fans," the league said.

Nelson's ruling is likely just one round of what could be a protracted legal battle. If she or the appeals court grants a stay on her ruling, the lockout will continue until the appeals court can make a further decision.

That process could take months. Meanwhile, the league is facing another ominous decision from Nelson's colleague, Judge David Doty, next month as he entertains damages for his March ruling that the league violated its agreement with the players when it negotiated TV contracts as lockout insurance in recent years.

The players' antitrust suit -- from which Nelson's ruling was an offshoot -- against the league also will proceed.

Contributing: Jim Corbett

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See Judge Nelson's ruling below.

Judge Nelson ruling