New England Patriots’ fans can thank U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman if and when they see NFL quarterback Tom Brady suiting up next Thursday for the Patriots’ season opener.  Judge Berman vacated Brady’s four-game suspension for his alleged role in the 2015 AFC Championship Game’s Deflategate scandal. In July, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell slapped Brady with the suspension pursuant to the League’s collectively bargained arbitration process.  Goodell concluded that Brady not only knew he was playing with non-regulation, deflated footballs, but that he also approved the tampering of the footballs and subsequently destroyed evidence of his participation in the incident.  Despite these findings, Judge Berman put Brady back in the game, lifting the suspension on the basis that the NFL deprived Brady of procedural due process during the arbitration proceedings.

Judicial review of arbitration awards is extraordinarily limited.  However, courts will reverse decisions where the employer violated fundamental requisites of “fairness” and “due process.”  Judge Berman’s 40-page opinion reads as a how-to manual for employers and arbitrators to ensure that the substance of the claims, rather than procedural technicalities, determines the outcome of the litigation.
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