Angel Hernandez’s Lawsuit Against MLB Just Got Really Interesting | FanGraphs Baseball

But Hernandez missed something. Hernandez’s lawyers should have pointed out to the court that whether or not a labor relations privilege exists depends not on the forum state of the lawsuit, but instead based on the law of the state where the communications occurred. If Hernandez spoke with his union in St. Louis, for example, he would have done so in reliance on Missouri law, not New York procedural law. Without that, though, Hernandez was arguing only public policy – what the court should do, not what the court can do. As a matter of public policy, Hernandez had the better argument. As a matter of procedure, MLB had the far better argument. The court heard oral arguments on this issue, and on June 12 decided to side with MLB: the union was required to produce those documents. That’s a significant ruling, because there is now federal case law in MLB’s home federal forum that communications between an employee and their union is not confidential.

This holding is a game-changer for more than just the umpires. Should there be litigation between MLB and the MLBPA or a player, there will be no privilege protecting the player’s communications with the union from disclosure to MLB. For the MLBPA, that should be deeply troubling, especially given the fraught nature of its relationship with the league as we approach new CBA talks in 2021.