Ezekiel Elliott Back on the Bench as Suspension Reinstated

After hearing arguments from the NFL and the NFL Players Association, U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla denied Dallas Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott’s request for a preliminary injunction to block his six-game suspension. The decision comes only two weeks after the same court had granted Elliott’s request for a temporary restraining order that had then frozen the suspension.

This was Elliott’s second request for a preliminary injunction since he received the suspension on August 11 following domestic violence allegations. The first request had been granted by …

October 18, 2017 NFL

Cowboys’ Elliott Catches Yet Another Reprieve in Fight Against NFL Suspension

South District of New York Judge Paul Crotty granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) on Tuesday, October 16, 2017, blocking the NFL’s suspension of Dallas Cowboys’ star Ezekiel Elliott, pending a hearing before the presiding judge, Katherine Polk Failla, who is on vacation. Judge Crotty’s ruling that “irreparable harm” would be caused if Elliott served the suspension comes only five days after the Fifth Circuit had overturned the first injunction, issued by a Texas court, which had frozen Elliott’s suspension. The Fifth Circuit …

October 17, 2017 NFL

The NFL and Ezekiel Elliott Will Now Duel in New York Federal Court Over His Six-Game Domestic Violence Suspension

The battle between Dallas Cowboys star Ezekiel Elliott and the NFL continues. Last week the Fifth Circuit cleared the way for the NFL to enforce Elliott’s six-game domestic violence suspension. In the most recent update, the NFL Players Union urged the New York federal judge overseeing the NFL’s adjoining suit to grant it an emergency order blocking his suspension that is set to begin this coming Monday, October 23, 2017. Among its answer and counterclaim in the New York suit, the Players Union seeks an …

October 12, 2017 NFL

Decision on Cowboys’ Elliott Suspension Officially Thrown into Fifth Circuit’s Hands

The NFL’s New York suit seeking to enforce the six-game suspension on Dallas Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott was halted on October 11, 2017 until the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals makes a decision. Manhattan federal court’s District Judge Katherine Polk Failla said she would not issue a formal stay of the injunction — the injunction currently preventing Elliott’s suspension from taking immediate effect — but that she would halt the New York litigation. Elliott has played, so far, in all five Cowboys’ games this season.

The …

September 20, 2017 NFL

Ezekiel Elliott Will Stay on the Field for Now

U.S. District Court Judge Amos Mazzant ruled on Monday, September 18, 2017, that Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliot’s suspension will remain on hold, allowing Elliot to continue to play. Judge Mazzant, the same judge who originally granted the preliminary injunction freezing the suspension, has held the injunction will remain in place because the “NFL deprived the NFLPA the right to present…any evidence relevant to the [arbitration] hearing.” Mazzant wrote that “the court still has a role to play in reviewing arbitral awards coming from …

September 15, 2017 NFL

Legal Battle Between the NFL and Ezekiel Elliott Continues

The court battle between the NFL and the NFLPA over Dallas Cowboy running back, Ezekiel Elliott’s, six-game domestic violence suspension continues when the League appealed the preliminary injunction that was awarded to Elliott on Friday, September 8, 2017. U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant issued the preliminary injunction which would not let the NFL enforce Elliott’s suspension until the case went through the court system. Mazzant wrote, “based upon the preliminary injunction standard, the Court finds, that Elliott did not receive a fundamentally fair hearing, necessitating …

September 14, 2017 NFL

NFL Tries Again to Enforce Ezekiel Elliot’s Suspension Before Another Football Sunday

The NFL is attempting to quicken its appeal process of a federal judge’s injunction that reversed Dallas Cowboys’ running back Ezekiel Elliot’s six-game domestic violence suspension. Last week, U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant issued a preliminary injunction to stop Elliot’s suspension, holding that his labor arbitration was fundamentally unfair. The NFL then immediately appealed that ruling to the Fifth Circuit and asked Judge Mazzant for an emergency stay of the preliminary injunction. In this response, the NFL told Judge Mazzant it would quickly immediately go …

August 24, 2017 Litigation / NCAA

SCA Promotions “Bounces Back”: Yahoo Owes Millions for Backing Out of NCAA Bracket Prize

Back in 2014, Yahoo promised college basketball fans a “Billon-Dollar Bracket,” which allowed anyone who could predict every winner in the 2014 NCAA men’s basketball tournament $1 billion dollars. To create this contest, Yahoo entered into an $11 million dollar contract with prize promoter SCA Promotions. Once the contract was finalized, SCA went looking to find insurance coverage for the grand prize. However, at the same time, Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway and Quicken Loans came up with their own $1 billion prize, and …

September 14, 2016 Litigation / NFL

Class Dismissed: Fifth Circuit Affirms Denial of Super Bowl Fans’ Class Certification

On September 9, 2016, the Fifth Circuit upheld a district judge’s decision to deny class certification to those fans who were displaced or denied entirely from seats at Super Bowl XLV. Additionally, it affirmed the dismissal of the breach of contract claim against the Dallas Cowboys, agreeing that the Cowboys, whose home stadium served as the location for Super Bowl XLV, were merely third-party vendors of tickets to the event.

In doing so, the Fifth Circuit rejected several proposed classes of fans, including finding …

August 26, 2015 Litigation / NFL

Super Bowl Seating Battle Not Over Yet: Ticket Holders Appeal

Despite their win that awarded $75,000 in March, Super Bowl XLV ticket holders are appealing the trial court decision. In a court document filed on August 21 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the ticket holders are asking the appeals court to overturn the district judge’s pretrial rulings.

The ticket-holder appellants claim that the district court judge erred in denying class certification to those who were completely deprived of their seats and others who were relocated to seats with obstructed views.…