Appeals court upholds Adrian Peterson suspension in 2014 child-abuse case

Reporting from MINNEAPOLIS  —  A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that the NFL was within its rights when it suspended Minnesota Vikings star Adrian Peterson in 2014 after he was charged with child abuse.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals said an arbitrator acted appropriately by upholding Commissioner Roger Goodell’s suspension of Peterson for six games. U.S. District Judge David Doty had tossed out arbitrator Harold Henderson’s ruling, saying he overreached his authority, but the appellate panel restored it.

Peterson was suspended in 2014 under the league’s personal-conduct policy after he was charged with child abuse over disciplining his son with a wooden switch. He wound up playing only one game that season.

The three-judge panel wrote that the players union and the league agreed to be bound by the arbitrator’s decision, and that Henderson had acted within his authority.