## Facts

- Alfred J. Niemiec, a professional baseball player and World War II veteran, played second base for the Seattle Rainier Baseball Club through the 1942 season, then served in the military during the 1943–1945 seasons.
- After honorable discharge at age 35, Niemiec signed the standard professional baseball contract with the club for the 1946 season at $720 per month during the season.
- The contract included club-favorable provisions allowing the club to terminate the contract and control renewal, and it stated it was subject to laws and regulations regarding military service.
- Niemiec appeared in five games in April 1946.
- Around April 21, 1946, the club unconditionally released him, stating he was “not a good enough player.”
- Niemiec sought relief under the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, requesting reinstatement to his position and back pay from the release date, offset by other earnings.
- The club argued (1) Niemiec waived statutory rights by signing the contract, (2) player quality is a managerial judgment not suited for judicial review, and (3) professional baseball fell outside the federal statute by analogy to cases treating baseball as not interstate commerce for antitrust purposes.

## Issues

1. Whether the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 applies to employment by a professional baseball club despite baseball’s antitrust-related “not interstate commerce” doctrine.
2. Whether a returning veteran waives statutory reemployment protections by signing a standard player contract containing broad termination and renewal provisions.
3. Whether releasing a returning veteran after five games because he was “not a good enough player” constitutes a discharge “for cause” under the Act.

## Decision

- The court held the Selective Training and Service Act applied to the club’s employment of Niemiec; baseball’s antitrust status did not exempt it from the statute.
- The court held Niemiec did not waive statutory reemployment rights by signing the standard baseball contract.
- The court held the club’s unconditional release was not a discharge “for cause” recognized by the statute.
- The court ordered reinstatement of the contract and awarded back pay at $720 per month from April 21, 1946, offset by Niemiec’s interim earnings.
- The court stated the club was not required to play Niemiec, but it was required to pay him under the statute’s protection.

## Legal Principles

- Federal veterans’ reemployment statutes apply to covered employment relationships even in specialized industries; limits on federal regulation developed in antitrust cases do not control the scope of a war-powers reemployment statute.
- Statutory reemployment and one-year job-protection rights under the Selective Training and Service Act cannot be waived or contracted away by standard-form employment provisions that permit termination inconsistent with the statute.
- “Discharge for cause” under the Act requires legally sufficient cause supported by the record; a conclusory claim of inadequate performance, especially following minimal opportunity to perform after reinstatement, may be insufficient.
- Remedies may include reinstatement and back pay subject to mitigation through offset for interim earnings, while leaving day-to-day operational decisions (such as whether to play the employee) to the employer.

## Conclusion

The court enforced the Selective Training and Service Act against a professional baseball club, rejecting both contractual waiver and a commerce-based exemption argument, and found that releasing a returning veteran after only five games for alleged inadequacy was not “cause,” entitling the veteran to reinstatement of the contract and back pay with offsets for other earnings.


Niemiec v. Seattle Rainier Baseball Club, Inc., 67 F. Supp. 705 (W.D. Wash. 1946)