Plaintiffs in the upcoming NCAA antitrust trial will not be able to introduce as evidence the recent decision that allowed Northwestern football players to vote on whether they wanted to join a union. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken ruled Friday that lawyers for former UCLA basketball star Ed O'Bannon and 19 others may cite the decision by a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board allowing the vote in their trial brief, but may not introduce the findings as evidence once the trial begins. O'Bannon's attorneys wanted to introduce the NLRB ruling as part of a suit - first filed in 2009 - that alleges the NCAA is in violation of federal antitrust laws in the way it controls big money college sports. While Wilken ruled in favor of the NCAA in its bid to keep the NLRB decision out of the trial, she also ruled against the NCAA's motion to exclude testimony about the wealth of any NCAA or university employee.
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