The NFL won a round Thursday in ongoing litigation with Adrian Peterson, when a federal appeals court affirmed the league's 2014 decision to fine the Vikings running back in connection with a child assault case.
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling does not affect Peterson's playing status, but it does affirm the decision of an outside arbitrator who upheld the league's sanctions, and means Peterson must pay the NFL a little over $2 million from the fine originally imposed by the league.
Under public scrutiny over the league's handling of a previous domestic assault incident and facing a firestorm over Peterson's case, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell issued a memo in August 2014 that players with first-time domestic violence offenses would be subject to six weeks' suspension without pay.
When Peterson and the NFL players' union challenged his suspension in court, a federal judge ruled in his favor. Peterson sat out six games, but eventually was reinstated to play for the Vikings.
But the Vikings appealed the judge's decision, noting that an arbitrator had found that the NFL players' collective-bargaining agreement gives Goodell the authority to increase player discipline in certain cases.
The Eighth Circuit reversed the judge's decision, affirmed the arbitrator's ruling, and remanded the case with directions to dismiss the NFL Players Association's petition to vacate the arbitrator's decision.
