Major League Baseball on Friday announced an agreement with MLBPA on a joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy.
Advertisement
It also allows the commissioner or a team to impose discipline, but didn’t say of what sort, if a player was charged with a crime “involving the use of physical force or violence, including but not limited to, sexual assault, domestic violence, resisting arrest, battery, and assault”.
The policy also creates a joint policy board for the objective of providing the player with the appropriate treatment, which could include mandatory counseling and psychological evaluation. The policy also requires any such player to appear for an interview as part of the league’s investigation.
The policy – a partial response to the NFL’s controversial handling of cases in those categories past year – sets standards for investigation, discipline and treatment. One of the board’s expert members will submit a treatment plan to the full board for approval and oversee the player’s compliance with the plan. It could also force players to give up weapons or to adhere to “other reasonable directives designed to promote the safety of the player’s partner, children, or victims”.
A player may challenge the discipline before a three-person arbitration panel made up of one representative of each party along with an agreed-upon impartial arbitrator.
Players suspended for violating the policy will not be paid or accrue big-league service time.
At the end of the administrative leave, Manfred may discipline the player immediately, reinstate the player and defer any disciplinary action until after resolution of any criminal charges, or under certain circumstances may suspend the player with pay until legal proceedings are completed.
The commissioner then will have the authority to discipline players found to have violated the policy, with no limit on the punishment.
All players will be provided education in English and Spanish about domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse at regular intervals.
In addition, the league said it would adopt a similar policy for minor leaguers, club employees and league employees.
Advertisement
The parties shall regularly provide resources to players’ families, including referral information, websites, hotline numbers and outreach facilities.
