NFLPA sues NFL to challenge Adrian Peterson decision

The NFL Players Association has filed a lawsuit against the NFL in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis to challenge an arbitrator's decision Friday to uphold Adrian Peterson's suspension by the league. Documents from the lawsuit can be viewed here.

The lawsuit comes on the heels of ABC News releasing an audio tape of a phone call between NFL executive vice president of operations Troy Vincent and Peterson, in which Vincent tells Peterson he would be reinstated after a two-game ban and receive credit for his time spent on the Commissioner's Exempt List.

Vincent's promise came with the condition that Peterson attend a meeting with commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss the child abuse case in which he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor reckless assault for disciplining his four-year-old son with a wooden switch.

Peterson did not attend the meeting, and he received an indefinite suspension six days later.

The phone call was presented during the NFLPA's appeal of Peterson's suspension. However, an arbitrator sided with the NFL last week, saying Vincent didn't promise a specific penalty, and that the league's decision did not come in retaliation to Peterson's decision not to attend the meeting.

The key points of contention in the NFLPA's lawsuit are that the suspension is a retroactive application of a new policy, the arbitrator who upheld the decision was not impartial, and that the punishment includes items not permitted by the labor deal, such as a requirement that Peterson be evaluated by mental health professionals.