N.F.L. Commissioner Showed Bias in Bounty Scandal, Union Asserts

It all prompted one of the suspended players, New Orleans linebacker Jonathan Vilma, to send a Twitter message that simply said, “and we’re off ...”

The union filed the lawsuit in federal court on behalf of Will Smith, Anthony Hargrove and Scott Fujita, claiming Goodell was “incurably and evidently biased” when it came to ruling on appeals of the suspensions. Before ruling on the appeals, Goodell had imposed the original penalties and defended his decision to suspend the players.

In its filing, the union asks if the collective bargaining agreement “granted the commissioner, when serving as an arbitrator, the authority to disregard the essence of the parties’ agreement, to conduct proceedings that are fundamentally unfair, and to act with evident bias and without jurisdiction.” The filing continues, “The answer, under governing case law, is clearly ‘no.’ ”

The lawsuit asserts Goodell violated the collective bargaining agreement by presiding over the appeal hearings and by denying the players access to “critical documents or witnesses.” The N.F.L. has asserted — and two arbitrators have previously ruled — that the C.B.A. allows Goodell to hear appeals on discipline matters that are concerned with conduct detrimental to the league.

“There is no basis for asking a federal court to put its judgment in place of the procedures agreed upon with the N.F.L.P.A. in collective bargaining,” the N.F.L. spokesman Greg Aiello said in a statement.

Vilma has been suspended for the 2012 season, while Hargrove will miss eight games, Smith four and Fujita three for their reported roles in a scheme in which Saints players were promised money in exchange for injuring opposing players.

Saints Coach Sean Payton and the former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams were also suspended, along with other Saints officials.

“On some level, the case may turn on that: Did the N.F.L.P.A. concede absolute dictatorial power to the commissioner to do anything?” said Lee Adler, a professor at Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, who has no connection to the bounty case but has been involved with labor litigation for more than 35 years.

If the N.F.L.’s interpretation of Goodell’s authority is correct, Adler said, the lawsuit will be “very vulnerable.”

Also Thursday, Goodell filed a motion to dismiss Vilma’s defamation lawsuit against him and instead have the case heard by an arbitrator.

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