Violence in the workplace: The elite play by their own rules.
Washington Nationals' Bryce Harper (34) hits San Francisco Giants' Hunter Strickland in the face after being hit with a pitch in the eighth inning of a baseball game Monday, May 29, 2017, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
This blog is for informational purposes, nothing within its content should be construed as legal advice.
There is permissible and inherent violence in all professional, contact sports; the “check” against the boards in hockey, the receiver suffering a perfectly timed hit from a defensive back (within the permitted target areas, of course), the 98-mph fastball that misses its location and hits the batter. However, I am not addressing a violent act that occurs within the confines of a professional sport. I am addressing when an athlete commits an act of violence in the workplace that exceeds the scope of acceptable violence within the sport.
Draymond Green’s knockout punch of his teammate, Jordan Poole, is fresh in the minds of many of us. If you haven’t yet seen the video, I have pasted a link in the sources section at the bottom. To summarize, Draymond Green and his Golden State Warriors teammate, Jordan Poole, get into an argument at practice, Poole shoves Green, and Green immediately responds with a vicious punch that knocks Poole to the ground.
For the record, I am not “singling out” Draymond Green as the poster child for violence in the workplace. I could talk at length of infamous violent occurrences in sports, ranging from Ty Cobb to Nolan Ryan/Robin Ventura to Todd Bertuzzi. My recency bias is nudging me to use this fresh example to illustrate how the rules apply differently to the elite than they do to the common man or woman.
1. What would likely happen to me if I did this? Forget about Green for a second. In sports we see batters charge the mound, fist fights on the ice, and bench clearing brawls all the time. If you were to commit anything resembling this sort of violence against a fellow employee over a disagreement at work, you will likely face the following:
Job Termination- You will likely get fired from your job.
Criminal Charges- Any of the above-mentioned acts would likely qualify as some sort of act of “assault/battery” in your jurisdiction. If the victim were to press charges, you could be facing felony charges for your act of aggression. Additionally, in Green’s situation, he has a prior criminal record stemming from an incident that occurred in East Lansing, Michigan in 2016. This could impact the plea deal you are offered or the sentencing issued.
Civil Liability- The victim can sue you in a civil lawsuit and will presumably also sue your employer, alleging that your employer had “vicarious liability” for the actions you committed. Under this doctrine, the victim can allege that the employer is also liable for your actions since they made the decision to hire you, and since they were responsible for training and managing you.
Trouble finding future employment- A criminal charge on your record could severely limit your future job prospects. Many companies have a policy to not hire individuals with a criminal record. When the criminal charges are of a violent nature, this limits your eligibility even further. Employers often do not want to take on the risk of secondary liability stemming from the violent actions committed by a person who has a history of violence.
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) and guard Jordan Poole (3) react toward referee Courtney Kirkland during the first half of Game 1 of the NBA basketball playoffs Western Conference finals against the Dallas Mavericks in San Francisco, Wednesday, May 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
2. Why do athletes not face the same consequences as me? At times, athletes do face all of the consequences above (see some examples below in the sources section). More often than not, though, it is rare for the consequences to flow from beyond a league-mandated suspension or fine, which are “slap on the wrist” compared to what you would receive. Let’s apply the above to Draymond Green.
Job Termination- Why didn’t Green lose his job? There are several factors in Green’s favor.
First, Green is not an “at-will” employee. Most of us in the workforce are considered “at will” employees who can leave our position when we want to, and can also be terminated from our position, with or without cause as long as there was no discriminatory intent involved. Draymond is under contract, and he is ready, willing, and able to perform his obligations under the contract. The Warriors would have to argue that Draymond violated a term of his contract and, therefore, can legally terminate him. Even if this were a slam dunk argument to make, the argument would get opposed by Green and his lawyers and the matter would get litigated.
The second thing Green has going for him; he has the strong support of the NBA Players Union. If Green were terminated for cause, the Players Union would most definitely “enter the chat,” and this would become a costly distraction to all parties involved.
Finally, Draymond is phenomenal at what he does. Despite how great you think you are at your job, your company probably does not need you as much as the Warriors, or another NBA franchise, needs Draymond Green. Business is all about leverage. In this situation, Green, despite his agressions, is an integral component to the Warriors objective: winning another championship. This is a business venture that the organization has already committed hundreds of millions of dollars towards. Remember, chances are that no matter how great you are at your job, you are not an indispensable part of a multi-million-dollar venture.
Criminal Charges- After watching the aforementioned video of the altercation, you do not need a law degree to assume a violent crime occurred during the Green/Poole incident.The book is not closed yet on this front yet. The San Francisco’s District Attorney’s Office could eventually press charges, but my guess is they will not. There are a few reasons:
Poole never filed a police report, and has not made any public comments indicating he wants to press charges. It appears, however, that the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) would still be within their rights to arrest Green based on the third bullet below taken from the California Penal Code:
California law establishes standards which must be met when making an arrest. Section 836 of Title 3, Chapter 5 ("Making of Arrest") of the California Penal Code (PC) states that a peace officer may make an arrest in obedience to a warrant, or may, without a warrant, arrest a person:
• Whenever he/she has reasonable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed a public offense in his or her presence; or
• When a person arrested has committed a felony, although not in his or her presence; or
• Whenever he/she has reasonable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed a felony, whether or not a felony has in fact been committed.
Following the arrest, once a person has been arrested for a felony, the Police Inspector would present the case against the suspect to the District Attorney (DA). The DA would then have to decide whether to file formal charges or not. So far, the SFPD, who have likely seen the video, have decided to not intervene. This, coupled with no formal arrest demand from the victim, explain functionally why no legal charges have been filed.
Based on the above, you can see that it is a choice on the part of SFPD and the SF DA’s office to not proceed with criminal charges. You are probably wondering “why?” There are a number of reasons, I will give you a few that come to my mind:
Although cities have jurisdiction over criminal acts that occur within their borders, they usually abstain and allow the professional leagues to police themselves if the act occurs during a game or at practice. I speculate the line of reasoning to be that prosecuting athletes for every intentionally hit batsman, unnecessary roughness call, or flagrant foul, would become cumbersome. Analyzing every questionable act on the field would put a strain on the resources of the DA’s office. Additionally, it appears that the leagues using their own disciplinary means have deterred this conduct to the point where District Attorney Offices are not being summoned by the public to intervene in professional sports matters.
Charging Green and Poole (Poole pushed Green first) criminally would be bad for business in two ways. First, it would not be a cost-effective exercise for the DA’s office. Green and/or Poole would “lawyer up,” their lawyers would file every motion ethically permitted and flood the DA’s office with paperwork. Green or Poole might be willing to take the matter to trial in a city where they are heroes, and this is not where the DA’s office wants to allocate their resources. Second, it would be bad for the city. The DA’s office receives its funding from city tax revenue. The performance of the Golden State Warriors has benefitted the DA’s office through the revenue they have generated and the good will they have brought to the city. An institution as prominent as the Warriors is more of a partner in the city’s endeavors than an adversary. Deciding to charge Green or Poole criminally would lead to major criticism of a DA’s office that has been under fire over the last few years.
Civil Liability- Why isn’t Green, or the Warriors, getting sued by Jordan Poole?
I have looked through the NBA’s most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement to see if there is anything prohibiting or limiting a cause of action from one player against another, and I cannot find anything. If any reader is able to locate some language, please let me know. Therefore, I assume Jordan Poole, as of now, has not elected to seek legal action against his teammate. Keep in mind, this could change, but also keep in mind that Poole has other factors to consider. Poole is in a situation where it is prudent to always “think long.” If Poole were to sue Draymond after getting dropped, how would that effect his image on social media? Michael Jordan cried once at his Hall of Fame induction ceremony and has never lived that one down. Poole could also ostracize himself with fellow players in the league. Do you think that the player who “Called Saul” after getting knocked out like Redd did on “Friday” would be invited to join podcasts, camps, and other business ventures that create additional revenue for players? What about at the end of Poole’s run, when he is a fringe player? Having a negative stigma can cost you a couple of seven-figure salaries on the backend of your career.
What about suing the Warriors? Poole might be playing chess while we are playing checkers. Poole can have his cake and eat it too in this situation if he plays his pons right. Poole has leverage over the Warriors. They have let Green get away with a number of player conduct incidents. Green is still invaluable to the organization, and it is clear by the Warrior’s actions they still wish to retain him. Poole has not seen his first major pay day yet. Poole could elect to sue Green and the Warriors, OR he could stay quiet publicly and negotiate an extension where he will receive more money than he would have had the incident not occurred. Poole is eligible to receive up to a 4-year $120 million dollar extension from the Warriors. Most pundits, including Tim Kawakami of the “Athletic”, believe that the Warriors were not willing to pay Poole $30 million per year coming into this season. Then this incident occurs, Poole handles it in the best interest of the organization, and Poole receives a higher-than-expected pay day. What is actually happening here is Poole is trading his legal cause of action, and its accompanying negative press, for a few million dollars.
Trouble finding future work- The book is not closed on this chapter yet either, but I would still say there is a disparity with the impact Green will feel versus what most people would feel. Players with Green’s knowledge and work-ethic can collect NBA checks when they are washed up and not athletically worthy of a roster spot but make up for it by being an unofficial “player coach.” Think Juwan Howard, Udonis Haslem, Vince Carter, and so forth. Green is also seen by many as refreshing. Like Charles Barkley, he is a free-thinker and a free-speaker. There is a lot of money on the table for Green in his post-playing days. Green’s actions can limit these options. However, I would still argue that TNT and many others seem to have forgot that Sir Charles once threw some heckler through a window.
3) Conclusions- Why do the elite play by different rules? As outlined above, their situation is far more complex and nuanced than yours. Their role in society is intertwined with the interests of people who have more money and power than the athlete who committed the violent act. To understand this, you cannot isolate the perpetrator from the ecosystem that he or she is a part of. Secondly, when the athlete has “leverage” they will often face milder consequences. Leverage can apply to the common person too. There are occupations that will often hire employees with a criminal history. The reason for this is that supply exceeds demand for the role, and as a result, employers cannot afford to have strict standards that other industries maintain. This is not the same leverage that professional athletes and the elite exert, but I point it out to illustrate that the concepts may apply to you, just not to the same extent that the elite gets to use them. So, before you go punching Steve in Accounting for that rounding error, remember, athletes answer to a different set of rules.
Mark Kachhi, is licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania. His office is located at 1727 Snyder Avenue in the heart of South Philly. Mark Kachhi offers a free consultation for people in dealing with criminal matters. Please contact The Mark Kachhi Law Firm, PLLC at 215-439-7899 if you would like to schedule an appointment or visit the website www.lawkach.com .
Sources:
Todd Bertuzzi–Steve Moore Incident | NHL Hockey Wikia | Fandom
Ø The $3 Million Punch - The Washington Post
Ø Section 1.4 The DA's Standard for Charging Cases | Board of Supervisors (sfbos.org)
BARKLEY THROWS MAN THROUGH BAR WINDOW – Sun Sentinel (sun-sentinel.com)
Photo Sources:
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