On September 15, 2012, with no agreement being reached on a new CBA, the owners locked out the players, thus threatening the start of the 2012–13 NHL season. Three months later, the NHLPA was fired back by the NHL on December 14 by filing a class action suit with the U.S. District Court in New York seeking to establish that its lockout is legal. They also filed an unfair labour practice charge with the National Labour Relations Board, saying that the union has been negotiating in bad faith and that their threat to disclaim interest is a negotiating ploy that violates the collective bargaining process. On December 21, a person told the Associated Press that a vote was cast to give the NHLPA executive board a chance to file a disclaimer of interest, with the vote in favor 706–22. The board had until January 2, 2013, to file the disclaimer, in which then the union would have dissolved and became a trade organization, which would have allowed players to file antitrust lawsuits against the NHL.