NFL files labor charge against union

The NFL filed an unfair labor practice charge against its players’ union.

In Monday’s filing with the National Labor Relations Board, the league is asking that the union be ordered to bargain in good faith. The NFL says the union wants to avoid reaching a new collective bargaining agreement by the early March expiration of the old deal.

The league says the union wants to decertify so it can file an antitrust lawsuit.

A statement e-mailed by union spokesman George Atallah says the NFL’s “claim has absolutely no merit.”

Albert Haynesworth is facing another off-field accusation of misbehavior, this time by a waitress who says the Washington Redskins defensive lineman sexually abused her at a restaurant, a claim his agent denied.

Chad Speck found himself in familiar territory in defending his client after Washington’s WRC-TV reported that, according to a police report, the waitress said Haynesworth touched her breast while paying his bill early Sunday at a downtown Washington hotel.

“There seems to be no truth to these allegations,” Speck said. “And we are currently evaluating the facts and considering our own legal actions against those involved.”

Officer Tisha Gant, a police spokeswoman, said an investigation is underway over something that happened at the hotel, but she would not say for what alleged offense or confirm whether Haynesworth is a suspect. No charges have filed.

Baltimore Ravens Coach John Harbaugh signed a three-year extension that will keep him under contract through 2014.

ETC.

USA Swimming clears coach

USA Swimming says an investigation found no evidence that one of the nation’s top coaches had an inappropriate relationship with one of his female swimmers.

The governing body announced the results by an independent private investigator it hired to look into coach Sean Hutchison.

The Associated Press reported in December that Hutchison was leaving the Fullerton program where he trained several top young women on the U.S. national team. There was speculation he was forced out because of an intimate relationship. At the time, Hutchison denied involvement with one of his swimmers at Fullerton Aquatic Sports Team.

USC’s Thursday night football game against California on Oct. 13 at AT&T Park in San Francisco will kick off at 6 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN.

Also, former Trojans receiver Keary Colbert, who worked as a graduate assistant last season and was thought to be a front-runner for a vacant receivers coach position on Lane Kiffin’s staff, is leaving USC in an effort to revive his NFL career.

Colbert, 28, was a second-round draft pick by the Carolina Panthers in 2004 and had a career-best 47 receptions for 754 yards and five touchdowns as a rookie. He played three more seasons with the team and then spent the 2008 season with Seattle, Detroit and Denver.

—Gary Klein

ESPN announced that UCLA’s football game at Arizona on Oct. 20 will be televised nationally by the network. The Thursday night contest will kick off at 6 p.m. PDT.