According to documents obtained by CBS Sports, Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott has sued the NFL prior to the ruling coming down on his appeal of the six-game suspension the league handed out for his supposed violation of the domestic violence policy.
A ruling on his appeal to the NFL office is expected to come before next week.
The NFL Players Association filed a petition on behalf of Elliott asking the Eastern District Court of Texas to overturn any forthcoming suspension ruling from Harold Henderson, who is handling the appeal hearing for the league.
Ian Rapoport on Twitter
While you were sleeping… Elliott filed a lawsuit against the NFL in Texas to vacate the 6-game suspension. NFL has no comment. https://t.co/7ZuAkDuNQF
The petition, filed by famed antitrust attorney Jeffrey Kessler, claims that the league’s investigation and suspension of Elliott was “one of the most fundamentally unfair arbitral processes conceivable.”
The petition also states that there was a “conspiracy” to “hide critical information” and accuses NFL special counsel Lisa Friel of withholding from Commissioner Roger Goodell the word of co-lead investigator Kia Roberts, who the suit says concluded that the accuser wasnt credible and that discipline wasnt warranted.
Troy Hughes on Twitter
Statement from Ezekiel Elliott’s legal team regarding NFL’s investigation, “most egregious violations of legal due process” #DallasCowboys
The withholding of this critical information from the disciplinary process was a momentous denial of the fundamental fairness required in every arbitration and, of course, does not satisfy federal labor laws minimal due process requirements, the lawsuit said.
Prosecutors in Columbus, Ohio did not pursue criminal charges against Elliott for the supposed incidents that took place between him and a former girlfriend. The NFL kept the investigation open and based his suspension on photographs, text messages and other electronic evidence.
