Legal News

Labor arbitrator Thomas Roberts dies at 84

By Jason Siegel

Labor arbitrator Thomas Roberts, best known for his high-profile baseball rulings, died of complications related to old age last Wednesday. He was 84.

Roberts remained an active arbitrator since he started in 1958. Roberts went in to the limelight with a 1983 ruling that made pitcher Fernando Valenzuela the first baseball player to get a $1 million salary and a 1988 ruling that found Major League Baseball owners guilty of conspiring against the movement of free-agent players during th 1985 season.

While Robert was one of the first to arbitrate baseball contracts in 1974, it made up a fraction of his time - regularly handling disputes in the entertainment, broadcasting, manufacturing and airline industries, the Los Angeles Times reported.

From 1987 to 2000, Roberts mediated the national collective bargaining agreement between General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers.

A funeral Mass will be held tomorrow at 11 a.m. at St. John Fisher Catholic Church, 5448 Crest Road, Rancho Palos Verdes. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to a 1942 scholarship fund at Loyola High School or St. John Fisher Catholic Church .

L.A. Times Obituary
Associated Press Obituary

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on February 18, 2008 (boomark / email).