Donald Fehr

Donald Martin Fehr (born July 18, 1948)[1] is a former American sports executive. He was the fifth executive director of the NHL Players Association from 2012 to 2023. He became nationally prominent while serving as the executive director of the MLB Players Association from 1983 to 2009.

Donald Fehr
Donald Fehr (2011)
5th Executive Director of the National Hockey League Players' Association
In office
2012–2023
Preceded byMike Ouellet (interim)
Succeeded byMarty Walsh
3rd Executive Director of the Major League Baseball Players Association
In office
December 9, 1983 – June 22, 2009
(acting Dec. 9, 1983–Dec. 1, 1985)
Preceded byMarvin Miller (interim)
Succeeded byMichael Weiner
Personal details
Born
Donald Martin Fehr

(1948-07-18) July 18, 1948
Marion, Indiana
NationalityAmerican

Life and career

Fehr's parents are Irene Sylvia (née Gulko) and Louis Alvin Fehr, of German-Jewish descent.[2][3] He was raised in Prairie Village, Kansas. He graduated from Indiana University Bloomington in 1970 with a degree in political science and was a member of Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity. Fehr received his J.D.[4] degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law.[5]

MLBPA

As a young lawyer, Fehr assisted the MLBPA in the Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally arbitration case (later known as the Seitz decision). In 1977, Marvin Miller hired Fehr as the Players Association general counsel.

In December 1985, Fehr was voted executive director of the MLBPA after having served as acting director since December 9, 1983. Fehr successfully challenged the owners' collusion, leading to the owners paying $280 million in damages to the players.

Fehr led the players union through the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike and subsequent World Series cancellation. He was instrumental in implementing the rejection of future admissions into the MLBPA of replacement players who planned to fill in during the strike of 1995. Fehr attended the 1995 New York Yankees' home opener against the Texas Rangers, which saw only 50,425 fans show up making it was the smallest opening day crowd at Yankee Stadium since 1990.[6] Fehr's presence angered many fans who blamed him for ruining their team's postseason chances and what would have been Don Mattingly's postseason debut.[7] Fans booed Fehr and yelled "You ruined the game!"[7] in response to him having attended the last game played at Yankee Stadium before the strike, and booed as he left the stadium;[8][9] one fan also held up a sign saying "$HAME ON YOU!",[10] to which Fehr responded by flipping off the fan.

On June 22, 2009, Fehr announced his intention to step down as the MLBPA executive director position, recommending Michael Weiner as his successor. This was subject to the approval of the union's executive board and possible ratification by all players.[11] He officially relinquished his job to Weiner in December 2009.[12][13]

On September 8, 2021, twelve years after leaving Major League Baseball, Fehr delivered the Hall of Fame induction speech for former MLBPA Executive Director Marvin Miller, who was elected in 2020, eight years after his death.[14]

NHLPA

Shortly after leaving his position as executive director of the MLBPA, Fehr took up a position as an advisor to the NHL Players' Association. On December 18, 2010, Fehr was voted in by the NHLPA as their executive director.[15][16]

With the NHL locking out the players at midnight on September 15, 2012, Fehr became the only executive director of a players' union to be directly involved in work stoppages in two sports. Six of the eight contract negotiations he has been involved in have resulted in work stoppages, including five consecutive negotiations between the MLBPA and Major League Baseball.[17]

In an October 2021 report detailing the sexual assault of Kyle Beach by the Chicago Blackhawks’ video coach Brad Aldrich and ensuing coverup by the organization revealed Beach reported this assault to Fehr, who ultimately did nothing.[18] In an October 28th statement, Fehr admitted that the NHLPA failed Beach.[19]

Fehr left his NHLPA post in February 2023, replaced by former United States Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh.[20]

References
  1. Street, Jim (March 19, 2008). "Mariners talk to Fehr about schedule". mlb.com. Retrieved 2007-03-19.
  2. Who's who in Finance and Industry. August 1975. ISBN 9780837903194.
  3. Porter, David L. (1995). Biographical Dictionary of American Sports: 1992-1995 supplement for baseball, football, basketball, and other sports. ISBN 9780313284311.
  4. "Donald Martin Fehr Profile | New York, NY Lawyer | Martindale.com". www.martindale.com.
  5. Klein, Jeff Z. "The New York Times - Search". The New York Times.
  6. Maske, Mark (April 30, 1995). "After the Strike, Baseball's Disgusted Fans Decide to Strike Back". The Washington Post. p. A1.
  7. Chass, Murray (April 27, 1995). "BASEBALL; Ceremony, Circus Act And Even Some Fans Greet Game's Return". The New York Times. p. B11. Retrieved September 3, 2010.
  8. Justice, Richard (August 12, 1994). "With Baseball's Last Out, a Strike". The Washington Post. p. A1.
  9. Stark, Jayson (August 12, 1994). "Major League Baseball Goes on Strike". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. A1.
  10. Boswell, Thomas (April 27, 1995). "Fans Allow Yankees Leeway on Strike Zone". The Washington Post. p. B1.
  11. "Fehr leaving post after quarter-century". ESPN.com. June 23, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-15.
  12. "The Hockey News".
  13. "Donald Fehr closer to becoming NHLPA's executive director". USA Today. September 11, 2010.
  14. Joyce, Greg (8 September 2021). "Derek Jeter fans grow restless during Donald Fehr's Hall of Fame speech: 'Sorry, guys!'". nypost.com. NYP Holdings, Inc. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  15. "NHLPA.com". www.nhlpa.com.
  16. "Fehr voted in as executive director of NHLPA". www.tsn.ca. Archived from the original on 2010-12-21.
  17. "Home | mlbpa".
  18. Walsh, Erin (2022-04-15). "NHLPA Announces Findings from Blackhawks Probe After Kyle Beach Allegations". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
  19. Cuthbert, Justin (2021-10-28). "NHLPA head Donald Fehr admits union failed Kyle Beach: 'I am truly sorry'". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
  20. "Marty Walsh formally appointed Executive Director of NHLPA". www.cbsnews.com. CBS News Boston. 16 February 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2023.

Further reading

Ruttman, Larry (2013). "Donald Fehr: Former Executive Director of the Major League Baseball Players Association". American Jews and America's Game: Voices of a Growing Legacy in Baseball. Lincoln, Nebraska and London, England: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 281–291. ISBN 978-0-8032-6475-5. This chapter in Ruttman's oral history, based on an April 24, 2009 interview with Fehr conducted for the book, discusses Fehr's American, Jewish, baseball, and life experiences from youth to the present.

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