Court Opinion

ID: 9765609
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 04:10:17.754293+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:12.286824
License: Public Domain

BYE, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent from the majority’s decision to grant the NFL’s motion for a stay pending appeal. “A stay is an intrusion into the ordinary processes of administration and judicial review, ... and accordingly is not a matter of right, even if irreparable injury might otherwise result to the appellant.” Nken v. Holder, — U.S. -, 129 S.Ct. 1749, 1757, 173 L.Ed.2d 550 (2009) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Because the present case does not present circumstances warranting such an intrusion, I would deny the NFL’s motion for a stay pending the final disposition of this expedited appeal.
My analysis is guided by the four factors we consider in determining whether to grant a stay:
(1) whether the stay applicant has made a strong showing that he is likely to succeed on the merits; (2) whether the applicant will be irreparably injured absent a stay; (3) whether issuance of the stay will substantially injure the other parties interested in the proceeding; and (4) where the public interest lies.
Id. at 1756 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); see also Reserve Mining Co. v. United States, 498 F.2d 1073, 1076-77 (8th Cir.1974). The NFL, as the party seeking a stay, bears the burden of proving these factors. Lankford v. Sherman, 451 F.3d 496, 503 (8th Cir.2006).
First, in analyzing the above factors, this court has recognized that “[rjegardless of the strength of its claim on the merits, a movant for a [stay pending appeal] should show a threat of irreparable harm.” Cf. Rogers Group, Inc. v. City of Fayetteville, Ark., 629 F.3d 784, 789 (8th Cir.2010) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); see also S & M Constructors, Inc. v. Foley Co., 959 F.2d 97, 98 (8th Cir.1992) (per curiam) (noting we consider the same factors in determining a stay pending appeal as we consider for a preliminary injunction). “Failure to show irreparable harm is an independently sufficient ground upon which to deny a [stay].” Rogers Group, Inc., 629 F.3d at 789 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). With this in mind, I will first address the balance of equities between the parties before reaching the likelihood of success on the merits.
“In order to demonstrate irreparable harm, a party must show that the harm is certain and great and of such imminence that there is a clear and present need for equitable relief.” Iowa Utils. Bd. v. FCC, 109 F.3d 418, 425 (8th Cir.1996). Stated differently, the irreparable harm alleged by the NFL “must be actual and not theoretical.” Packard Elevator v. ICC, 782 F.2d 112, 115 (8th Cir.1986). Moreover, the NFL cannot meet its burden if it demonstrates only economic loss, unless *795“the loss threatens the very existence of the [NFL’s] business,” because “economic loss does not, in and of itself, constitute irreparable harm.” Id. “Implicit in each of these principles is the further requirement that the [NFL] substantiate the claim that irreparable injury is ‘likely’ to occur ... [by] providing] proof that the harm has occurred in the past and is likely to occur again, or proof indicating that the harm is certain to occur in the near future.” Id.
As an initial matter, it is difficult to discern which of the NFL’s allegations of irreparable harm the majority relied upon in its decision. After setting forth the parties’ arguments, the majority confined its analysis on this point to acknowledging, “[b]oth sides raise valid points.” Ante at 793. The majority also faulted the district court for giving “little or no weight to the harm caused to the League by an injunction issued in the midst of an ongoing dispute over terms and conditions of employment,” although it once again did not speak to what harm it was referring. Moreover, the majority’s allusion to “an injunction issued in the midst of an ongoing dispute over terms and conditions of employment” ignores the context of the parties’ current collective bargaining disposition and treats the disclaimer of the union as if it never happened. See Stay Order at 9 (“This contention assumes that both parties view the negotiations as being at impasse in the collective bargaining process. But the Players do not believe there is a collective bargaining process in place.”).
Notwithstanding the majority’s analysis, the NFL has not persuaded me it will suffer irreparable harm during the pendency of this expedited appeal. First, the NFL contends the injunction issued by the district court deprives the NFL of its labor law right to lock out the Players. The resulting effect of this, according to the NFL, is to skew the collective bargaining process in the Players’ favor. As will be discussed more fully below, it is doubtful the NFL enjoys its alleged “labor law right to impose a work stoppage” under the present circumstances where the parties are no longer engaged in the collective bargaining process. In any event, there will not be any shift in the “balance of power” until the appeal is resolved. Indeed, the NFL itself acknowledges, “[a]ll that is relevant here is the injury, if any, that the [parties] would suffer in the time necessary for this Court to consider a highly expedited appeal during the offseason.” Appellant’s Brief at 20. Given that the parties will not likely return to the bargaining table prior to our resolution of this expedited appeal, at which point we will determine whether the district court properly enjoined the lockout, the NFL’s claim that it will suffer a loss of bargaining power in this interim period does not amount to “proof indicating that the harm is certain to occur in the near future” for purposes of a stay pending appeal. Id.
Next, the NFL asserts it will be unable to “unscramble the egg” of player transactions occurring in the absence of a stay. The NFL also argues, in the absence of a stay, its clubs will be required to “produce their inherently joint and collective product,” which in turn will subject the League to further antitrust claims by the Players. Each of these arguments is questionable given the current juncture of affairs. The preliminary injunction does not dictate the NFL’s free agency rules, or any other conduct in general, outside of the lockout. Moreover, the fact the NFL must comply with the law, i.e., the Sherman Act, does not constitute irreparable harm — it is the absolute minimum that could be expected of the League.
Whatever harm may be said to befall the NFL during the pendency of the expedited *796appeal stands in stark contrast to the irreparable harm suffered by the Players. Regardless of the preclusion of free agency effectuated under the lockout and its influence on the Players, there can be little dispute that the off-season is an abundantly busy period for veterans and rookies alike. See Supplemental Declaration of Richard A. Berthelsen at 14 (“The facts are that the NFL has increasingly become a year-round business over the past twenty years, with players participating at many important club activities during this time of the so-called ‘off-season.’ ”). Even the brief stay occasioned during this expedited appeal will deprive the Players of “irreplaceable opportunities to develop their skills as football players and to otherwise advance their NFL careers.” Declaration of Joby Branion at 2-3. For instance, the recently-drafted rookie players are presently forestalled from practicing with their new teams and accessing their team’s gameplan and coaching staff, which could cost these players the opportunity to become starting players or even make the team. Id. at 3; see also Supplemental Declaration of Richard A. Berthelsen at 15 (“These players are among the most vulnerable and cannot afford to be held back with weeks or months of inactivity when they will have to compete against already established players competing for the same jobs.”). “A young athlete’s skills diminish and sometimes are irretrievably lost unless he is given an opportunity to practice and refine such skills at a certain level of proficiency.” Neeld v. Am. Hockey League, 439 F.Supp. 459, 461 (W.D.N.Y.1977).
Similarly, the veteran players are subject to the demands of constantly proving their worth in the NFL. Declaration of Frank Bauer at 5 (“The virtually constant need for NFL players to prove their skill and value on both the game and practice fields makes a ‘lockout’ especially problematic.”). It is of little surprise that professional athletes must undergo rigorous off-season workouts, study playbooks, and meet with coaches and team officials to assiduously prepare for the upcoming season. See Supplemental Declaration of Richard A. Berthelsen at 14 (“[T]he off-season would normally be comprised of up to 14 weeks of practice activity as well as classroom sessions where players spend valuable time with their coaches learning their club’s offensive and defensive systems. Players are constantly working out at club facilities, under the supervision of club personnel who are constantly evaluating players. Players also undergo club supervised medical procedures and evaluations during the off-season.”). It follows that even the abbreviated harm fashioned by the stay will obviate the Players’ opportunities to engage in any of these off-season necessities, which could have dramatic repercussions to the Players’ careers in the long term. Further, none of this harm can be adequately compensated by monetary damages. See Rogers Group, Inc., 629 F.3d at 789 (“Irreparable harm occurs when a party has no adequate remedy at law, typically because its injuries cannot be fully compensated through an award of damages.”) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).
Due to the irreparable harm presently incurred by the Players, compared with the limited harm, if any, suffered by the NFL, I believe the balance of harms weighs heavily in the Players’ favor. Consequently, I would require the NFL to satisfy a heavier burden of showing it is likely to prevail on the merits. See Dataphase Sys., Inc. v. C L Sys., Inc., 640 F.2d 109, 113 (8th Cir.1981) (en banc) (“If the chance of irreparable injury to the movant should relief be denied is outweighed by the likely injury to other parties litigant should the injunction be granted, the mov*797ing party faces a heavy burden of demonstrating that he is likely to prevail on the merits.”).
In analyzing the merits, it becomes readily apparent that the NFL fails to satisfy its burden. I disagree with the majority’s assessment of the merits of the NFL’s position concerning the applicability of the Norris-LaGuardia Act. It is true the Act deprives federal courts of jurisdiction to grant injunctive relief in “ease[s] involving or growing out of a labor dispute,” 29 U.S.C. § 101, and specifically prevents injunctions prohibiting “[cjeasing or refusing to perform any work or to remain in any relation of employment,” 29 U.S.C. § 104(a). It is also true the Act is phrased in intentionally broad terms, Jacksonville Bulk Terminals, Inc. v. ILA, 457 U.S. 702, 708, 102 S.Ct. 2672, 73 L.Ed.2d 327 (1982), and contains an expansive definition of the term “labor dispute.” See 29 U.S.C. § 113(c). But in interpreting these provisions, the majority loses sight of the principal purpose behind the enactment of the Act, see Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., — U.S. -, 131 S.Ct. 1325, 1330, 179 L.Ed.2d 379 (2011) (stressing the importance of purpose and context of the statute in conducting statutory analysis), and, as a result, manages to use “benefits to organized labor ... as a cat’s-paw to pull employers’ chestnuts out of the antitrust fires.” United States v. Women’s Sportswear Mfg. Ass’n, 336 U.S. 460, 464, 69 S.Ct. 714, 93 L.Ed. 805 (1949).
The legislative history of the Act reveals that Congress enacted it in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Duplex Printing Press Co. v. Deering, 254 U.S. 443, 41 S.Ct. 172, 65 L.Ed. 349 (1921), where the Court refused to extend a similar anti-injunction provision in the Clayton Act to secondary activity — i.e., activity where union pressure is directed against third parties rather than the employees’ own employer. Burlington N. R.R. Co. v. Bhd. of Maintenance of Way Employees, 481 U.S. 429, 438, 107 S.Ct. 1841, 95 L.Ed.2d 381 (1987). Congress felt the unduly narrow construction of the law in Duplex Printing and the pattern of injunctions entered by federal judges deliberately flouted the expression of its will in the Clayton Act. See Michael C. Duff, Labor Injunctions in Bankruptcy: The Norris-LaGuardia Firewall, 2009 Mich. St. L.Rev. 669, 678 n. 39 (2009). To redress this problem, Congress took care to “greatly broaden[ ] the meaning ... attributed to the words ‘labor dispute,’ further restrict[ ] the use of injunctions in such a dispute, and emphasize[] the public importance under modern economic conditions of protecting the rights of employees to organize into unions and to engage in ‘concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.’ ” Allen Bradley Co. v. Local Union No. 3, Int’l Bhd. of Elec. Workers, 325 U.S. 797, 805, 65 S.Ct. 1533, 89 L.Ed. 1939 (1945). All of that was, of course, done ostensibly to “stay[ ] the hands of courts whose creativity had been employed in the service of management,” Burlington N. R.R. Co. v. Bhd. of Maintenance of Way Employees, 793 F.2d 795, 806 (7th Cir.1986), and “to protect the rights of labor,” United Mine Workers of Am. v. Pennington, 381 U.S. 676, 703 n. 4, 85 S.Ct. 1607, 14 L.Ed.2d 626 (1965) (internal citation omitted).
Evaluated against this backdrop, the Act must be understood to apply to an increasingly broad number of actors in a labor dispute. For example, the language of the Act making it applicable to “case[sj involving or growing out of a labor dispute” ensures that courts do not enjoin secondary activity related to collective bargaining, even if the secondary employer is not substantially aligned with the primary employer. See Burlington Northern Rail*798road Co., 793 F.2d at 805-06. Similarly, Section 4(a)’s ban on injunctions against “[cjeasing or refusing to perform any work or to remain in any relation of employment ” clarifies that “employee strikes could not be enjoined either if the employees claimed to have ceased or refused to work temporarily or if they claimed to have completely ended their employment relation with their employer.” de Arroyo v. Sindicato de Trabajadores Packinghouse, AFL-CIO, 425 F.2d 281, 291 (1st Cir.1970), disapproved on other grounds, Bowen v. U.S. Postal Serv., 459 U.S. 212, 220 n. 8, 103 S.Ct. 588, 74 L.Ed.2d 402 (1983); see also Local 2750, Lumber & Sawmill Workers Union, AFL-CIO v. Cole, 663 F.2d 983, 986 n. 5 (9th Cir.1981). Finally, the broad language of the Act has been construed to encompass disputes “grounded in noneconomic motives,” such as disagreements with the employer’s policies. See Cent. Vermont Ry., Inc. v. Bhd. of Maintenance of Way Employees, 793 F.2d 1298, 1301 (D.C.Cir.1986) (citing Jacksonville Bulk Terminals, Inc., 457 U.S. at 713-15, 102 S.Ct. 2672, and New Negro Alliance v. Sanitary Grocery Co., 303 U.S. 552, 560, 58 S.Ct. 703, 82 L.Ed. 1012 (1938)).
Yet, despite the widening circle of actors eligible for protection under the Act, the law remains focused on safeguarding the collective bargaining process. Recognizing that unions are, by their very nature, groups of people acting together in restraint of free competition and trade, see Pennington, 381 U.S. at 666, 85 S.Ct. 1585, the Act strikes a delicate balance between “ ‘the congressional policy favoring collective bargaining under the NLRA and the congressional policy favoring free competition in business markets.’ ” Brown v. Pro Football, Inc., 50 F.3d 1041, 1048 (D.C.Cir. 1995) (quoting Connell Constr. Co. v. Plumbers & Steamfitters Local Union No. 100, 421 U.S. 616, 622, 95 S.Ct. 1830, 44 L.Ed.2d 418 (1975)). By suspending antitrust liability, the Act protects “working men in the exercise of organized, economic power, which is vital to collective bargaining.” Bhd. of R.R. Trainmen v. Chicago River & Ind. R.R. Co., 353 U.S. 30, 40, 77 S.Ct. 635, 1 L.Ed.2d 622 (1957). Unless the values of collective bargaining are implicated, federal labor laws yield to the regular antitrust framework. See Powell v. NFL, 930 F.2d 1293, 1303 (8th Cir.1989). The question becomes, then, whether the Act shields from antitrust liability the actions of the NFL even after the NFLPA had disclaimed its role as the Players’ collective bargaining representative and the Players voted to end the NFLPA’s status as their representative.
In my opinion, the answer to this question lies in the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Pro Football, Inc., 518 U.S. 231, 116 S.Ct. 2116, 135 L.Ed.2d 521 (1996), where the Court analyzed the applicability of the nonstatutory labor exemption from antitrust liability where parties reach a significant impasse in negotiations. Although the Court ultimately concluded the employer was entitled to the nonstatutory labor exemption in that case, the Court hypothesized that “an agreement among employers could be sufficiently distant in time and in circumstances from the collective-bargaining process that a rule permitting antitrust intervention would not significantly interfere with that process.” Id. at 250, 116 S.Ct. 2116. As one example of such a sufficiently distant event, the Court cited a “collapse of the collective-bargaining relationship, as evidenced by decertification of the union.” Id.) Brown, 50 F.3d at 1057 (“If employees wish to seek the protections of the Sherman Act, they may forego unionization or even decertify their unions.”); see also NBA v. Williams, 857 F.Supp. 1069, 1078 (S.D.N.Y.1994) (pre*799dieting the players can avoid the labor injunction if they disclaim the union as their collective bargaining agent); Powell v. NFL, 764 F.Supp. 1351, 1356-57 (D.Minn.1991) (holding that the ongoing collective bargaining relationship ends, and the nonstatutory labor exemption no longer applies, when the players vote to repudiate the union). When the union no longer represents employees, collective bargaining comes to a definitive halt, and labor laws are no longer implicated. See generally Phillip Lawrence Wright, Jr., Major League Soccer: Antitrust, the Single Entity, and the Heightened Demand for a Labor Movement in the New Professional Soccer League, 10 Seton Hall J. Sport L. 358, 386 (2000) (stating that, “when a union decertifies, the collective bargaining relationship between the players and owners (or league) ends because the union no longer represents the players” and the players regain the ability to sue under the Sherman Act).
Since the statutory and the nonstatutory labor exemptions are actuated by the same policies concerning the antitrust-labor balance, the Court’s language in Brown is indicative of the outer limits of their application. It would be illogical to reject the nonstatutory labor exemption upon union disclaimer, yet prohibit the court from remedying antitrust violations through injunctive relief. Brown suggests that, with the collapse of the union, labor laws are no longer in force and the preexisting antitrust rights apply. By disassociating themselves from the union, the players make a choice in favor of the antitrust framework at the expense of foregoing the protections of labor laws. Brown, 50 F.3d at 1057. This is a quid pro quo they are entitled to make. See 29 U.S.C. § 157 (describing employees’ right to self-organization, including “the right to refrain from” joining labor organizations). Refusing to attribute proper significance to the fact of the union disclaimer would lead to “the bizarre prospect of employers attempting to force employees to remain in a union so as to preserve the employers’ valuable antitrust exemption.” Brown, 50 F.3d at 1065 (Wald, J., dissenting) (describing the NFL’s suit seeking judicial invalidation of the union disclaimer by the players). It would also hold the Players in limbo for an indeterminate period of time, during which they can neither take advantage of their collective bargaining rights nor avail themselves of protections of antitrust law.
In support of its argument that existence of a labor union is irrelevant for the purpose of the Norris-LaGuardia Act, the majority cites the 1938 decision of the Supreme Court in New Negro Alliance v. Sanitary Grocery Co., where the Court applied the Act to lift an injunction against a civil rights organization protesting discriminatory policies of the employer. Carefully read, however, the case does not stand for the proposition for which the majority cites it. To begin with, New Negro Alliance did not answer the precise question at issue before this court — -the applicability of the Norris-LaGuardia Act post-disclaimer. Rather, the issue there was whether the terms and conditions of employment had to be economic in nature, or could also relate to the employer’s non-economic policies. Jacksonville Bulk Terminals, Inc., 457 U.S. at 714, 102 S.Ct. 2672. The opinion also reaffirmed the familiar principle that the disputants need not “stand in the relationship of employer and employee” to fall within the ambit of the Act. Id. Nowhere in the opinion did the Court discuss the applicability of the Act in the absence of collective bargaining, not to mention its applicability following a definitive disclaimer of the union representation. Because the Supreme Court certainly did not “squarely address” the rele*800vant issue, this court is not bound by any sub silentio holding the majority seeks to infer. Brecht v. Abrahamson, 507 U.S. 619, 631, 113 S.Ct. 1710, 123 L.Ed.2d 353 (1993).
Indeed, New Negro Alliance does not mention the existence of any collective bargaining relationship whatsoever. By logical extension, then, the majority would jettison the requirement of having any connection to the collective bargaining process altogether and thereby extend the Act’s strictures to virtually any employment discrimination dispute. Such result is demonstrably untenable. See Stearns v. NCR Corp., 297 F.3d 706, 710 (8th Cir.2002) (“In general, an employment contract between an employer and a nonunion employee is governed by state law, not by ... the federal labor laws.”). In addition, New Negro Alliance remains in conflict with the Supreme Court’s suggestion in Brown that at some point, the breakdown of the collective bargaining process tips the balance between labor and antitrust laws in favor of the latter. Instead of accepting a simple, clear-cut line of demarcation suggested by Broum — upon dissolution of the union — the majority indulges in the fiction that collective bargaining continues for some undefined period following the disclaimer.
In sum, because I believe the NorrisLaGuardia Act does not apply in a situation where the Players are no longer represented by the union, I would conclude the NFL did not make the necessary strong showing of likelihood of success on the merits. Moreover, as it relates to the fourth factor, the NFL’s failure to make the necessary showing on the merits detracts from the NFL’s argument that the public interest favors the application of labor laws in the current context. At best, when considering the public interest in having a 2011 NFL season and, by extension, continuing with normal operations necessary for that objective, the public interest factor is a wash. Taken in conjunction with the balance of harms, which clearly favors the Players during the pendency of the expedited appeal, I would deny the NFL’s motion for a stay.
I respectfully dissent.