By V. John Ella and Robert Clayton
The long-running “Star Caps” trial in Hennepin County, Minnesota resulted in a split decision unexpected by either side. In his findings released on May 6, 2010, Judge Gary Larson of the Hennepin County, Minnesota District Court, following a week long court trial, ruled the National Football League (“NFL”) was properly considered an “employer” for state law purposes and that it violated notice provisions of Minnesota’s Drug and Alcohol Testing in the Workplace Act (“DATWA”) with regard to the drug testing of players Kevin and Pat Williams (unrelated) of the Minnesota Vikings.
The Court declined, however, to find the NFL violated the DATWA’s confidentiality provisions and, more significantly, it found that the affected players did not incur any damages resulting from the technical violations. The Court therefore refused to keep in force an injunction it had issued earlier barring the NFL from suspending the players.
The practical result for the Williamses is that they will likely be suspended for the beginning of next season. The practical impact for employers in Minnesota is that technical violations of Minnesota’s complicated drug testing statute may not always result in damages. But perhaps the largest implication is for the NFL and other professional sports leagues now that, in one court at least, the NFL has been established as a “joint-employer” of professional athletes for state law purposes.
The “Star Caps” legal dispute centered on the players’ positive drug tests for the NFL-banned substance Bumetanide as result of consuming Star Caps, an over-the-counter dietary supplement. Star Caps contained Bumetanide, but did not list the substance as an ingredient on the label. When the players tested positive for Bumetanide they challenged their drug test under Minnesota state law and sued the NFL to block their suspension. The NFL argued that the claims were preempted by federal law but the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit disagreed. (The NFL has recently petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review that decision.) The case therefore was cleared for trial in the state court. At that point the NFL argued as one of its defenses that the DATWA statute did not apply to it because the Minnesota Vikings was the “employer” of Kevin and Pat Williams, not the NFL.
Judge Larson decided this threshold question in favor of the players. The NFL, he held, which is a tax-exempt, unincorporated, nonprofit association comprised of 32 member clubs, is a “joint employer” of the Williamses along with the Minnesota Vikings. He noted that “the NFL directly and indirectly controls many aspects of a player’s life both on and off the field. This control emanates from a series of formal rules and regulations that exist both separate from and in conjunction with the [Collective Bargaining Agreement.].” For example, he wrote, “[t]he NFL, not the Vikings, controls everything about the drug testing process[.]” It also “controls, in immense details, what players may wear during games including sock and chin strap color, the type of tape that may be used on shoes, how jerseys are tucked in, and even how a player may use a towel.” He also analyzed revenue sharing provisions with the teams, media and endorsement contracts, merchandise sales, and registration and approval of agents, among many other factors in reaching his decision.
This finding may not be all bad for the NFL, which recently argued in American Needle v. Nat’l Football League before the U.S. Supreme Court that it should be treated as a single entity with the various member teams for anti-trust purposes. It does raise the possibility, however, that other state-specific labor and employment laws will be asserted by professional athletes in the future. The players are appealing to the Minnesota Court of Appeals and, in the meantime, have asked Judge Larson to stay his order pending the appeal. A decision on this request is expected any day. The final whistle has not been blown in this contest, but for now the Williamses seem to have lost yardage in their attempt to block their suspension.
