Take Me Out to the Courthouse · The Reserve Clause
The Strike That Wouldn't End
Silverman v. Major League Baseball Player Relations Committee (1995)
Charge: Unfair labor practice: owners' unilateral changes to free agency and salary arbitration (injunction sought against the owners' bargaining committee)Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second CircuitDocket: The Reserve Clause
Could the owners unilaterally scrap free agency and salary arbitration rules while bargaining with the players' union?
The facts
Big-league players went on strike after their labor contract expired and talks over a salary cap broke down, wiping out the rest of a season. The owners' bargaining committee then declared an impasse and imposed new terms, including scrapping salary arbitration and limiting free agency. A federal labor-board official asked a federal judge to order the owners to restore the old terms while the board decided an unfair-labor-practice charge. The judge granted the order and the owners appealed.
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: Silverman v. Major League Baseball Player Relations Committee, 67 F.3d 1054 (2d Cir. 1995)
Read more at caselaw.findlaw.com. The source reveals the outcome.