2 Minnesota Vikings Lose Challenge to Steroid Test

(CN) - The NFL's steroid-testing policy is not precluded by a Minnesota workplace drug-testing law, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled.

Minnesota Vikings players Kevin Williams and Pat Williams, known as the "Williams Wall" on the team's defensive line, challenged the policy after they were each suspended for four games for testing positive for bumetanide, a diuretic that is can be used to conceal steroid use.

The players filed for injunctive relief, claiming that the NFL violated the confidentiality provisions of the state's Drug and Alcohol Testing in the Workplace Act, which limits employers' ability to test employees for drug and alcohol use.

The District Court ruled in favor of the NFL, stating that the players' evidence was insufficient and that they did not show that they were injured by the league's actions.

In an opinion written by Judge Francis Connelly, the state appeals court upheld the ruling in favor of the NFL.

"Because bumetanide is not a drug within the meaning of DATWA, the statute does not apply, and there was no basis on which the district court could grant permanent injunctive relief to appellants," Connelly wrote, using to the acronym for the state law.

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