NFLPA Requests Restraining Order to Block Any Ezekiel Elliott Suspension

NFLPA files restraining order to block any Ezekiel Elliott suspension

The National Football League Players Association filed a temporary restraining order asking courts to block any possible suspension of Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott upheld by league arbitrator Harold Henderson, according to a filing obtained by ESPN.

The order was filed in the Eastern District of Texas.

Elliott was suspended for six games on Aug. 11 for violating the league's personal conduct policy as a result of a domestic violence investigation.

Elliott, who led the NFL in rushing last season, was not charged with any crime.

In the filing, the NFLPA alleges "there was a League-orchestrated conspiracy by senior NFL executives .... to hide critical information -- which would completely exonerate Elliott."

Kia Wright Roberts, the NFL's director of investigations, testified during Elliott's appeal hearing that she was the only person who interviewed Elliott's accuser, Tiffany Thompson, during the league's investigation.

She recommended that Elliott not be suspended based on her findings, saying Thompson was "not credible in her allegations of abuse."

"As such, not only was Elliott denied the most fundamental rights to be able to confront his accuser and to have her credibility assessed against his, the arbitrator also rendered himself incapable of directly assessing the credibility of Thompson -- which was critical to the fairness of the proceeding," the NFLPA wrote.

The NFLPA also wanted to know why NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell did not testify in Elliott's hearing.

Without testimony from the Commissioner, it was not possible to determine the full impact of the conspiracy, or precisely what the Commissioner knew or did not know about his co-lead investigator's conclusion that there was not sufficient credible evidence to proceed with any discipline under a League Personal Conduct Policy."