June 18, 2018 Antitrust / Baseball / Legislation / Litigation / Rights

SCOTUS Declines Opportunity to Reconsider MLB Antitrust Exemption

Major League Baseball’s immunity from antitrust violations under the Sherman Act has been called an “anomaly.” It has also been consistently upheld by courts since 1922, when it was unanimously affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States. The exemption was codified by Congress in the Curt Flood Act of 1998, maintaining an exemption for MLB and its clubs when conducting the “business of baseball” and providing more freedom to players seeking free agency and salary arbitration.

Despite striking out with lower courts, two …

June 18, 2018 NHL

Update: Garcia-Tatupu v. NFL Player Retirement Plan

On June 8, 2018, the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan and the NFL Player Supplemental Disability Plan (defendants), an ERISA-governed multiemployer pension plan which provides retirement and disability benefits to eligible NFL players and their beneficiaries, asked the First Circuit not to reverse the lower court decision that the NFL’s retirement board properly denied claims made by the ex-wife of a late New England Patriots player, Mosiula F. “Mosi” Tatupu.

As we have previously covered, more than four years after his 2010 …

June 15, 2018 Uncategorized

Tennis Pro Wants Claims Bounced Back To State Court

On April 9, 2018, ten-year tennis pro Madison Brengle sued the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) for physical and emotional consequences related to anti-doping blood tests. The suit was filed in a Florida Circuit Court and seeks damages for battery, negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Specifically, Brengle believes that being subjected to vein penetrating blood drawings for anti-doping tests caused her to have extreme physical and emotional pain.

Brengle has a rare medical condition called complex regional pain …

June 15, 2018 WWE

Former WWE Star CM Punk Prevails In Defamation Suit

On Tuesday, June 4, 2018, a jury in Cook County Illinois, found that former WWE wrestlers CM Punk (Phillip Jack Brooks) and Colt Cabana (Scott Colton) were not liable for the 2015 defamation and false light case brought by WWE ringside physician Dr. Christopher Amann. Amann argued that he was a victim of defamation per se, based on Punk’s and Cabana’s comments in 2014 on Cabana’s podcast “The Art of Wrestling”.

After abruptly retiring from the WWE in 2013, Punk went on the podcast in …

June 14, 2018 NCAA

Former Wrestling Coach Sues Pitt Over Firing

The University of Pittsburgh was hit with a discrimination lawsuit in Pennsylvania Federal Court on Monday, June 4, 2018, by former wrestling coach Jason Peters. Peters claims that Pitt discriminated against him based on him being African-American and denied him of his fourteenth amendment due process rights during the firing process. Additionally, the complaint states that Peters was fired without just cause and that Pitt violated Pennsylvania’s Wage Payment and Collection Law by failing to pay owed wages and provide him benefits. The suit specifically …

June 14, 2018 Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Trademark

Pepsi Can’t Get Out of Suit Over 2016 Super Bowl Ad

In July 2016, Betty Inc, a boutique advertising agency filed a complaint for copyright infringement, breach of contract, unjust enrichment, conversion, and unfair competition against soft drink giant PepsiCo. In November of 2016, Pepsi was granted their motion to dismiss the complaint. However, this motion did not dismiss Betty Inc.’s copyright infringement claim and allowed the agency to amend their contract claim.

Now, on June 5, 2018, Pepsi has lost their bid to dismiss the complaint after Judge Vincent L. Briccetti ruled that Pepsi needed …

June 13, 2018 Litigation

“Bizarre Dispute” Between Soccer Gear Company and Nike Ends at the Ninth Circuit

On June 7, 2018, Johnnie B. Rawlinson, a Ninth Circuit judge, denied Havensight Capital LLC’s appeal. In September 2014, Havensight Capital LLC, a soccer gear company and competitor of Nike, Inc., filed a lawsuit against Nike, claiming intentional interference with prospective economic relations; unfair competition and trade practices; commercial misappropriation; intentional interference with contractual relations; negligence; and invasion of privacy. According to Judge Rawlinson, the “appeal is the latest in an ongoing and bizarre dispute” where Havensight has portrayed its lawsuit as a battle between …

Indians Pitcher Claims IP Infringement Against Louisiana Baseball Training Program

On June 4, 2018, Cleveland Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer commenced a lawsuit against a Louisiana-based baseball training program, claiming that it misappropriated his name, identity, likeness, and other interests protected under intellectual property laws. Bauer contends that the program, Top Velocity, LLC, had used his persona on its website and across its various social media accounts for its own commercial gain, leading the public to believe that Bauer and Top Velocity were associated.

Bauer’s complaint asserts a total of 21 causes of action, including …

June 12, 2018 NFL

Do NFL Players Have a First Amendment Challenge to the National Anthem Policy?

Colin Kaepernick first gained attention for his protests of the national anthem during National Football League preseason games in August 2016. Following Kaepernick’s lead, many athletes across various sports began demonstrating during the pre-game rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner.” The protests were met with widespread debate and incited responses from nearly every sports and media commentator. President Trump took to Twitter, posting a series of tweets sharing his strong feelings on the issue, calling for players who knelt to be “fired.” Kaepernick has …

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