Ed Hillel said:
It is a different process, but I think Hardy may have a law of the shop argument for a 2-game suspension. That was generally the punishment Goodell handed out for players beating the shit out of women for a long while, and this infraction happened before the new policy. Prior to Rice, did he suspend any player more than 2 games for it?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suspensions_in_the_National_Football_League
It looks like five players were suspended before Rice for "domestic" situations; Michael Pittman got three games from Tagliabue in 2004; Duane Carswell, Brad Hopkins & Ricky Manning got 1 game, the first two from Tagliabue, Manning by Goodell in his first year on the job. Chris Cook got "entire season" in late October 2011 for domestic assault from the Vikings (his employer).
What makes Hardy different is A.) bench conviction, B.) different, non-Goodell arbitrator (Harold Henderson, League employee), and C.) prior court finding/process. Seen many lawyers on twitter today opining that Hardy can try, but he'll likely lose.