March 4, 2020 Baseball / Class Actions / Fantasy Sports / MLB

Fantasy Baseball Players Sue MLB, Houston Astros, and Boston Red Sox

There has been extensive fallout of the Houston Astros cheating scandal in baseball. From suspensions to fines to taking away draft picks, the MLB has internally disciplined the Astros. However, there has been speculation as to the potential legal consequences of the cheating scandal. On January 23, 2020, one such legal consequence became apparent when five fantasy baseball players filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York against the MLB, the Astros, and the Boston Red Sox. …

September 30, 2019 Defamation / Harassment / Litigation / NFL

New England Patriots Player Asks Judge to Throw Out ‘Trash Talk’ Lawsuit

New England Patriots safety Patrick Chung has asked a federal judge to dismiss a defamation lawsuit by a former Los Angeles Rams employee that involves the posting of a text message on social media.

As we reported earlier, former Rams ticket executive Matthew Hogan sued Chung and Matthew Weymouth, a friend of Chung’s who ran his social media pages. The lawsuit is over text messages that Chung posted to his social media. The post consisted of an exchange between Hogan and Weymouth where Hogan …

January 31, 2018 Concussions / Litigation / NFL

Judge Stays Aaron Hernandez’s Consortium Suit

On January 23, 2018, U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. decided to stay a suit brought by Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez, the fiancée of the late New England Patriots tight end Arron Hernandez. Mr. Hernandez committed suicide in prison while awaiting the appeal of his murder conviction. A court can stop, or “stay,” a proceeding or trial temporarily or indefinitely. Judge O’Toole ordered a stay on Ms. Jenkins-Hernandez’s suit in order to await a ruling by a Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. The panel is deciding …

July 15, 2016 Litigation / NFL

Deflategate Flattened as Brady Officially Drops Legal Fight

In a stunning turn of events, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady announced that he is officially dropping his legal battle against the NFL over Deflategate. On July 15, 2016 on Brady’s verified Facebook account he announced that he is not going to proceed with the legal process indicating he will not ask the Supreme Court to take up the case. Recently, on July 13, 2016 the Second Circuit denied his request to rehear their earlier decision to reinstate his four-game suspension for his alleged …

July 15, 2016 Litigation / NFL

Brady’s Quest to Vacate Four-Game Suspension is Running Out of Air as Second Circuit Denies Request for Rehearing

On July 13, 2016, the Second Circuit denied New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and the NFL Player Association’s request for a rehearing in their deflategate case. In the end, this decision came as no surprise for a case that has dominated both legal and sports headlines ever since the NFL handed down a four-game suspension to Brady for his alleged role in deflating footballs against the Indianapolis Colts in a 2015 playoff game.

Previously, the Second Circuit voted 2-1 to uphold the four-game suspension…

June 30, 2016 Litigation / NFL

NFL Seeks to Block Disgruntled Fans From Refiling Their Deflategate Suit

On June 24, 2016, the NFL asked a Massachusetts federal judge to reopen a previously dismissed suit by a group of New England Patriots fans over the league’s punishments handed down in the Deflategate scandal. On June 10, 2016 a federal judge opted not to exercise jurisdiction essentially dismissing the matter; however, the New England Patriots fans took this purported lack of federal jurisdiction as a license to file their claims in state court. The NFL seeks the federal judge to reconsider their decision not …

July 28, 2015 NFL

Running Out of Air: NFL Commissioner Upholds Brady Four-Game Suspension

On Tuesday, July 28, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell upheld the four-game suspension imposed on New England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady on May 11. The NFL announced that Goodell’s decision to uphold the suspension was based on the Wells Report and evidence that came to light during the ten-hour appeal hearing last month.

Specifically, Goodell noted that Brady’s destruction of his cell phone was a factor in upholding the suspension. He explained how Brady had exchanged nearly 10,000 text messages during the four months that the …

May 18, 2015 Litigation / NFL

Brady Suspended 4 Games for Role in Deflategate and Obstructing the Investigation

On Monday, May 11, the National Football League punished Tom Brady and the New England Patriots for their roles in the “Deflate Gate” scandal and its subsequent investigation.

Relying on the importance of protecting the integrity of the game, the NFL suspended Brady without pay for the first four games for the 2015-2016 season, fined the team one million dollars, and stripped the team of their 2016 first round draft pick and 2017 fourth round draft pick.

The punishments come only 5 days after the …

May 14, 2015 NFL

Deflate-gate Findings Could Mean Discipline for Patriots and Brady

On Wednesday, May 6, independent investigator Ted Wells released the findings of his investigation into the “Deflate-gate” scandal, reporting that “it is more probable than not” that Patriots personnel intentionally violated the rules.

During the AFC title game, 11 of the 12 footballs supplied and used by the New England Patriots were tested and found to be under-inflated beyond the league required 12 .5 psi. When this information was released to the public the following day, accusations and conspiracy theories began to fly. Many of …