Colin Kaepernick just overcame a major administrative hurdle in his goal to prove that National Football League (NFL) executives punished him for his kneeling protests and anti-racist activism by freezing him out of work. The quarterback and philanthropist’s lawyer Mark Geragos tweeted yesterday (August 30) that NFL system arbitrator Stephen B. Burbank denied the league’s request to dismiss Kaepernick’s official grievance.

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Breaking news @Kaepernick7 pic.twitter.com/mAYhkRKwB9

rnt— Mark Geragos (@markgeragos) August 30, 2018

ESPN reports that Burbank’s dismissal means that Kaepernick’s collusion suit can proceed. It will also allow the plaintiff to compell team owners and other leadership figures to testify during the NFL season. Yahoo! Sports reporter Charles Robinson notes that Burbank specifically ruled over a summary judgment phase that the league itself requested to see if the case could be thrown out.

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