Williams, McAllister, and rest from Starcaps incident to be suspended

[hdevonxz]

A federal judge has ruled that the NFL can suspend the five players that were found to have taken StarCaps last season.

The Williams Wall in Minnesota, Saints DEs Charles Grant and Will Smith, and free agent Deuce McAllister will all be suspended four games to open the 2009 season. It's a major blow to all parties. The suspensions were originally pushed back because the players took their case to a U.S. District court, claiming that the league didn't give fair warning about StarCaps. The league, however, maintains that Bumetanide in StarCaps is a masking agent for steroids and that all players are responsible for anything put in their bodies.

Source: Yahoo Sports

[Jangler]

Well, hopefully this teaches all players to take whatever supplement they want to take to the team and have it tested first.

[Dingo_ate_Babies]

lol @ the saints!

[Saint J]

lol @ the saints!

Yeah, who knows where we'd be without the 1.5 sacks those two would probably combine for in four games.

McCray played well last year, and Paul Spicer was brought in to play for these four games. We'll see how he does. Maybe if these two play well they can put some heat on Grant and Smith to EARN their spots back. Grant and Smith are both very good players, motivation just isn't there for them.

[Skew]

Not necessarily. Not sure about Saints players, but the Williams Wall has not fallen yet.

In Minnesota, Kevin and Pat Williams have two separate statutory claims that will be sent back to Minnesota state court (where the judges are elected by the local citizens, most of whom are Vikings fans).

One claim arises under the Minnesota Drug and Alcohol Testing in the Workplace Act. As explained by Judge Magnuson, this law confines employee drug testing in Minnesota to the specific procedures permitted by the law itself. In other words, any testing or discipline not permitted by the law is not permitted.

As further explained by Judge Magnuson, the law prohibits employers from imposing discipline based on a single positive test.

Here, Kevin and Pat Williams tested positive only once, and under the league’s policy regarding anabolic steroids and related substances, a four-game suspension arises from that first positive test.

The law also gives employees the right to explain any positive test.

Here, no one has doubted that the players have a pretty good explanation for testing positive for a prescription diuretic that secretly had been added to the supplement known as StarCaps. The players were suspended not because they knowingly ingested a banned substance, but because the strict-liability policy to which their union agreed mandates suspension even if, for example, a closet Packers fan working beverage detail had slipped a banned substance into their Pepsi at a Minneapolis restaurant.

On the surface, then, it appears that the players still have a pretty good argument for avoiding a four-game suspension for an initial positive test.

Also, the Minnesota Consumable Products Act prohibits employers from taking action against employees who have “engaged in the use or enjoyment of lawful consumable products, if the use or enjoyment takes place off the premises of the employer during nonworking hours.”

In English, this means that Vikings players are entitled, per Minnesota statutory law, to consume away from the workplace and on their own time any supplements sold legally and lawfully. The fact that the U.S. government has done a traditionally dreadful job of regulating the supplement industry is not something for which Vikings players or other Minnesota employees are responsible. Under the Consumable Products Act, employees are entitled to consume on their own time and off the employer’s premises anything that can be legally purchased.

http://www.profootballtalk.com/2009/05/23/the-williams-wall-still-has-a-case/#comments

[TerriblePizza]

So, basically, in the case of the Williamses, this boils down to a case of States Rights.

[Skew]

Yep. Will the state law override the CBA is the question, and it looks like it could.

[Darth Hater]

Yeah It looks like those fat fugers dubbed "the williams wall" were really just using them as a dietary supplement while just trying to lose weight and get smaller. Anybody want to buy soome magic beans too?

[MadHatter]

CBA will be upheld. This is an written contract and agreement that was agreed to by all parties. The Williams' are grasping at straws....but I guarantee you the CBA will be upheld.

If I signed an employement contract that stated I could be fired for a specific reason, then they could fire me for that reason...whether it was against the law or not.

[Mr. Scot]

You'll hear some suggest that the Minnesota judge just wanted to make sure the Williams boys could play in last year's playoffs :sosp: