MINNEAPOLIS -- The NFL Players Association's fight to get Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson reinstated from his suspension will reach federal court next month.
U.S. District Court Judge David Doty will hear the union's motion to have Peterson's suspension vacated at 2 p.m. on Feb. 6, his office said Tuesday. The NFLPA filed its motion Dec. 15, three days after arbitrator Harold Henderson upheld commissioner Roger Goodell's decision to suspend Peterson until at least April 15. The union argues that Henderson, a former NFL executive, issued the ruling as "an evidently partial arbitrator who exceeded the scope of his authority."
Peterson was arrested on Sept. 12 after a Montgomery County, Texas, grand jury indicted him for using excessive force while disciplining his then-4-year-old son last spring. The Vikings deactivated Peterson for their Sept. 14 game against the New England Patriots and announced the next day that Peterson would be allowed to play during his legal process. After intense pressure from sponsors and charitable partners, the team announced Sept. 17 that Peterson would be placed on the commissioner's exempt list, with pay, and would be banned from all team activities until his case was resolved.
The running back pleaded no contest to misdemeanor reckless injury Nov. 4, and Goodell suspended him for the rest of the season Nov. 18 -- a ruling, the union argued, that was subject to a personal-conduct policy that had been revised since Peterson's incident occurred and issued by a commissioner already under intense public pressure for his handling of the Ray Rice case.
In an interview with ESPN last month, Peterson said NFL executive VP of football operations Troy Vincent told him in early November he would receive a two-game suspension and be back on the field in time for the Vikings' Nov. 30 game against the Carolina Panthers, provided Peterson attend a meeting in New York with Goodell. Peterson said Vincent "made it crystal clear" that the meeting had nothing to do with the disciplinary process, but after consulting with the NFLPA, Peterson eventually declined to attend the meeting over concerns about its nature and scope.
Goodell then suspended him for the rest of the season, issuing a ruling that the NFLPA argues is far more harsh than the two-game suspension the commissioner could have handed down for domestic violence offenses under the terms of the policy that existed when Peterson's offense occurred.
Doty has heard NFL labor matters for more than 20 years and presided over the 1993 Reggie White class-action settlement that paved the way for modern free agency. He recused himself earlier this year from the union's $4 billion lawsuit against the NFL's 32 teams for allegedly creating a secret salary cap during the uncapped season of 2010.