While Kevin and Pat Williams case against the NFL remains very much alive, the same can’t be said for the NFL Players Association court battle against the league. U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson dimissed the lawsuit brought by the union on behalf of Charles Grant, Will Smith and Deuce McAllister as well as the Williamses.

The NFLPA issued a statement today, reacting to the decision that came out late Friday. “We are disappointed in the ruling and continue to believe that the NFL violated its fiduciary and health and safety obligations to the players,” NFLPA outside counsel Jeffrey Kessler said. “We will review the opinion with the players and their counsel and consider our appellate options.”

Meanwhile, Peter Ginsberg, the laywer for the Williamses, is very confident his clients will prevail now that Magnuson has put this back in the hands of the state court. (Remember, the NFLPA case and the Williamses’ suit were separate actions.)

“This gives my clients a terrific case and Judge Magnuson kept alive the heart of our case which is that the NFL improperly violated Kevin and Pat’s privacy rights and due process in administering these suspensions,” Ginsberg said. “We brought this case in state court because we believed the state courts in Minnesota had the most interest in protecting its employees rights. Judge Magnusson agrees and now it’s back to state court, which is the forum that the NFL tried to run away from.”

Indeed, it was the NFL that moved to shift the Williamses’ case from state court — where the two Pro Bowl defensive tackles had obtained a temporary restraining order to continue playing after their suspensions were handed down — to federal court.

As we mentioned on the previous blog in directing you to Pro Football Talk’s excellent summary of why the Williams had a strong case, Minnesota state law appears to be on the side of the two Vikings.

“The Minnesota legislature is very concerned about employer’s intruding on the privacy rights of their employees,” Ginsberg said. “The NFL admitted during discovery that it didn’t know or care what Minnesota state law calls for. This lawsuit in part is making the NFL aware and concerned about how it should be protecting Minnesota employees.”

Greg Aiello, the NFL’s senior vice president of public relations, sent the Star Tribune the following statement on behalf of the league: “We believe there are very significant barriers to a successful suit in the Minnesota courts against our collectively bargained program with the NFL Players Association that covers 32 teams and all NFL players. We are not concerned with the case as it now stands.”

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