George Nicolau

George Andrew Nicolau

• School University of Michigan, Columbia University

• Born February 14, 1925 in Detroit, MI USA
• Died January 2, 2020 in New York, NY USA

Biographical Information

George Nicolau was an American jurist who worked out of New York. Before entering college, Nicolau lost a leg during World War II when a B-17 airplane on which he was serving as the navigator was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Germany. After his recovery, he turned to law. He graduated from Columbia University with his juris doctor degree and became a high-powered attorney, specializing in labor law, and also worked in government for a time before turing to arbitration as a full-time career.

In 1960, Nicolau led the Equity Actors' Association Strike that closed Broadway theaters for two weeks. Beginning in 1986, Nicolau was hired by Major League Baseball as their independent arbitrator, replacing Thomas Roberts whom the owners had fired after he started holding hearings into allegations of collusion brought forward by players who had reached free agency following the 1985 season.

Nicolau reinstated Roberts to complete his investigation. After Roberts' initial collusion ruling issued in 1987, Nicolau himself ruled in 1990 that the owners had practiced collusion, artificially holding player salaries down, during the winter of 1986-87. As a result of these rulings, the owners were forced to pay millions to players who were the victims of this practice during the free agency period. In 1992, Nicolau struck down new rules that gave teams the rights to a drafted player for five years. He also rescinded the lifetime suspension of Steve Howe, calling the suspension too harsh. He was fired by the owners on September 9, 1995, having served longer than any of his predecessors in the position.

In nine years of service, Nicolau handed down 28 decisions siding with the owners on 14 occasions and the players 13 times. There was one split decision.

In 2006, Nicolau was in the news again when he was called to resolve the strike between New York City and 36,000 transit workers.

Further Reading

• Richard Sandomir: "George Nicolau, Arbitrator in Baseball’s Collusion Cases, Dies at 94", The New York Times, January 16, 2020. [1]