Take Me Out to the Courthouse · The Commissioner's Office
The Umpires Who Organized
Salerno v. American League of Professional Baseball Clubs (1970)
Charge: Sherman Act claim over the firing of two umpires (suit against the league and the commissioner)Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second CircuitDocket: The Commissioner's Office
Could fired umpires sue baseball under the antitrust laws?
The facts
Two veteran league umpires were fired late in a season. The league said one was simply a poor umpire, but the two men claimed the real reason was that they had been organizing the umpires into a union. They sued the league and the commissioner under federal antitrust law. The defendants moved to dismiss, pointing to baseball's long-standing exemption from antitrust law. A separate labor-board complaint about the firings was already pending.
You have the facts the court had. Guilty or not guilty? Call it in the game with your friends, then see what the court actually decided. Wrong call, you drink.
Citation: Salerno v. American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, 429 F.2d 1003 (2d Cir. 1970)
Read more at openjurist.org. The source reveals the outcome.