White v. National Football League, s. 93-3375
| Citation | 41 F.3d 402 |
| Decision Date | 20 January 1995 |
| Docket Number | 93-3382,93-3381,93-3415,93-3403,Nos. 93-3375,s. 93-3375 |
| Parties | 147 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3075, 1994-2 Trade Cases P 70,811, 31 Fed.R.Serv.3d 293 Reggie WHITE; Michael Buck; Hardy Nickerson; Vann McElroy; Dave Duerson, Plaintiffs-Appellees, Byron Evans, Objector-Appellant, v. NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE; The Five Smiths, Inc.; Buffalo Bills, Inc.; Chicago Bears Football Club, Inc.; Cincinnati Bengals, Inc.; Cleveland Browns, Inc.; The Dallas Cowboys Football Club, Ltd.; PDB Sports, Ltd.; The Detroit Lions, Inc.; The Green Bay Packers, Inc.; Houston Oilers, Inc.; Indianapolis Colts, Inc.; Kansas City Chiefs Football Club, Inc.; The Los Angeles Raiders, Ltd.; Los Angeles Rams Football Company, Inc.; Miami Dolphins, Ltd.; Minnesota Vikings Football Club, Inc.; KMS Patriots, L.P.; The New Orleans Saints Limited Partnership; New York Football Giants, Inc.; New York Jets Football Club, Inc., Defendants-Appellees, The Philadelphia Eagles Football Club, Inc., Defendant, B & B Holdings, Inc.; Pittsburgh Steelers Sports, Inc.; The Chargers Football; The San Francisco Forty-Niners, Ltd.; Seattle Seahawks, Inc.; Tampa Bay Area NFL Football Club, Inc.; Pro-Football, Inc., Defendants-Appellees. Reggie White; Michael Buck; Hardy Nickerson; Vann McElroy; Dave Duerson, Plaintiffs-Appellees, Sean JONES; Ken Norton, Jr.; Eric Allen; Patrick Hunter; William C. Matthews; Leslie O'Neal; Eric Sanders; Chris Dishman; Lomas Brown; Neil Smith; Van Waiters; Broderick Thompson; Curtis Duncan; Jerry Ball, Intervenors-Appellants, v. NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE; The Five Smiths, Inc.; Buffalo Bills, Inc.; Chicago Bears Football Club, Inc.; Cincinnati Bengals, Inc.; Cleveland Browns, Inc.; The Dallas Cowboys Football Club, Ltd.; PDB Sports, Ltd.; The Detroit Lions, Inc.; The Green Bay Packers, Inc.; Houston Oilers, Inc.; Indianapolis Colts, Inc.; Kansas City Chiefs Football Club, Inc.; The Los Angeles Raiders, Ltd.; Los Angeles Rams Football Company, Inc.; Miami Dolphins, Ltd.; Minnesota Vikings Football Club, Inc.; KMS Patriots, L.P.; The New Orleans Saints Limited Partne |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (8th Circuit) |
Suzzelle Smith, Los Angeles, CA, argued (Burton J. Kinerk, Kenneth Lee and Colleen L. Kinerk, Tucson, AZ; W. Joseph Bruckner, Earle F. Kyle, IV, Thomas S. Fraser and Laurie J. Miller, Minneapolis, MN; Don Howarth, Los Angeles, CA; Gary C. Adler and John J. McDermott, Washington, DC, on briefs), for appellant.
Jeffrey L. Kessler, New York City, argued (James Fitzmaurice, Daniel J. Connolly, Edward M. Glennon, Charles J. Lloyd and Mark A. Jacobson, Minneapolis, MN; Herbert Dym, Gregg H. Levy and Neil K. Roman, Washington, DC; Frank Rothman, Shepard Goldfein and William L. Daly, Los Angeles, CA; James W. Quinn, Jonathan T. Weiss, David G. Feher, Daniel Rubin and Jay L. Levine, New York City, on brief), for appellee.
Before McMILLIAN, HANSEN, and MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD, Circuit Judges.
Twenty-six football players ("objectors") appeal the settlement of an antitrust action brought by a certified class of football players against the National Football League. The district court 1 initially certified the class in an order issued on April 30, 1993, White v. NFL, 822 F.Supp. 1389 (D.Minn.1993), and approved the settlement in an order and a judgment decree issued on August 20, 1993, White v. NFL, 836 F.Supp. 1458 (D.Minn.1993); White v. NFL, 836 F.Supp. 1508 (D.Minn.1993). The objectors now challenge the district court's certification of a mandatory class represented by the named plaintiffs, the district court's approval of the settlement agreement, and the district court's jurisdiction to enjoin related actions. We affirm.
The settlement agreement purports to end a six-year dispute between the NFL member teams and their player-employees. The central issue in this labor dispute was the conflict between the players' desire for complete free agency and the NFL's desire to maintain competitive balance among its teams. A 1987 player strike failed to produce a compromise, and various antitrust actions followed. See, e.g., Powell v. NFL, 711 F.Supp. 959 (D.Minn.1989), 930 F.2d 1293 (8th Cir.1989), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1040, 111 S.Ct. 711, 112 L.Ed.2d 700 (1991) (); Powell/McNeil v. NFL, 764 F.Supp. 1351 (D.Minn.1991) (); and McNeil v. NFL, 1992 WL 315292 (D.Minn.1992) (). Shortly after the special verdict in McNeil, id., a group of players filed White v. NFL, the class action which resulted in the challenged settlement.
In early 1993, the parties to White v. NFL agreed to settle that case as well as other litigation related to the ongoing employment dispute. The District Court assisted in the settlement process by conditionally certifying a non-opt-out class pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b)(1). White v. NFL, Civ. No. 4-92-906 (D.Minn.1993); White v. NFL, Civ. No. 4-92-906 (D.Minn.1993). The class consisted of
(i) all players who have been, are now, or will be under contract to play professional football for an NFL club at any time from August 31, 1987, to the date of final approval of the settlement of this action and the determination of any appeal therefrom, and (ii) all college and...
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