PGA Moves to Dismiss Singh Lawsuit

On Friday, July 29, 2016,  PGA Tour Inc. once again moved to dismiss golfer Vijay Singh’s lawsuit alleging bad faith actions on the part of the PGA Tour. Singh brought suit against the PGA in 2013 after admitting in an interview to using deer antler spray, a banned substance, and accused the PGA of “absurd” and “unfair” treatment shown by the PGA’s 90-day suspension of Singh while other players used the same substance and received no sanctions.

Singh never tested positive for IGF-1, the …

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Fans Request Time-Out on Rams Consolidation Request

The Rams are facing several lawsuits from multiple groups of fans for their off-season decision to relocate to Los Angeles. The different parties have been in a ‘tug of war’ over the proper venue for a while now with varying winners and losers. The parties are also battling over whether or not to consolidate the different suits.

After already consolidating three actions in the Eastern District of Missouri, a group of fans are now urging the court not to consolidate a fourth case …

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Photographers Shoot for Unconscionability Claim Against NFL, AP

On Friday, July 29, 2016, the NFL, the Associated Press (AP) and Getty Images requested Judge Sweet of the Southern District in New York to reconsider his decision to allow a suit brought by several photographers to proceed.

Seven sports photographers, Paul Spinelli, Scott Boehm, Paul Jasienski, George Newman Lowrance, David Stluka, David Drapkin, and Thomas E. Witte are suing the NFL, the AP and Getty Images for unlawful business practices. The suit, lodged in 2013, alleges that the NFL pressured companies like the AP …

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Will the Rams Owe Fans $50 Million for Moving to LA?

The Rams move from St. Louis to Los Angeles spread waves across the football community. Not only was L.A opening its doors to football again, but St. Louis is losing a team that was a staple of the city. Thirty of 32 National Football League teams approved the plan of Rams owner Stan Kroenke to move. Kroenke plans to move the site to Inglewood California, ten miles from downtown Los Angeles, to a Hollywood Park racetrack. This is a $1.8 billion project, and $550 million …

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Well-Known Litigation Attorney Joins NHLPA Amid Pending Concussion and Player Discipline Litigation

In an NHLPA press release on July 29, 2016 the Player’s Union announced that longtime complex commercial litigation attorney Bruce S. Meyer is their new senior director of collective bargaining. The move will take place in mid-August and he is expected to get to work on the policy and legal aspects of the upcoming collective bargaining negotiations.

Meyer, an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania and Boston University School of Law is considered an expert in International Sports Law and Business. As a partner at …

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Ex-NFL Player Requests NFL Pay Attorneys’ Fees

A retired football player is asking the Maryland court to order the National Football League to pay his legal costs after years of battling over disability benefits. In the long sought battle, he currently owes his attorneys $225,312 in attorneys’ fees and $3,098 in filing costs. The player argues his disability benefits case meets the merit test applied by the Fourth Circuit and his fees are reasonable.

Jesse Solomon played has a linebacker in the NFL for nine years. The Vikings drafted him in …

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Academic Scandal Continues; UNC Denies Most Serious Charges Alleged by the NCAA

It has been more than a year since the NCAA brought charges against the University of  North Carolina after an investigation revealed that athlete students were enrolled in improper courses to receive high grades so they could keep playing sports and avoid suspensions. Although the NCAA removed men’s basketball and football programs from the charges in the spring, this only heightened the scandal against UNC’s women’s basketball program.

The scandal started with allegations that the University’s student athletes’ academic support staff allowed athletes to enroll …

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Disney Company to Blame for Star Wars Star Injury on Set

On July 26, 2016, a Disney subsidiary responsible for the filming of the new Star Wars trilogy pleaded guilty to two criminal charges in British Court. The company claimed responsibility for “failing to ensure safety and failing to keep Ford and other actors away from hazardous situations.” Foodles Productions, named to avoid fan attention during filming of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, plead guilty for the workplace safety breaches at Pinewood Studio two years after the injury of an actor on set.

In June 2014, …

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Redskins: Trademark Cancellation Worse than Initial Denial

The Washington Redskins are entangled in a trademark battle over its name and is urging the Supreme Court to hear its case. The football team disagrees about the offensiveness of the name and contests the constitutionality of Section 2 (a) of the Lanham Act which bans trademarks that are “disparaging.” Under the act, the government cancelled the Redskins trademarks after 23 years.

The Lanham Act was also the basis for the government’s refusal to register the trademark of the Asian-American rock band the “Slants.” However, …

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Connecticut Federal Court Reaffirms ‘Smack Down’ of Concussion Suit Against the WWE

On July 21, 2016 Connecticut Federal Judge Vanessa L. Bryant handed down a partial win for the World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. in the concussion lawsuit against them. Specifically, the judge denied the ex-wrestlers motion to reconsider the previously dismissed complaints that the WWE fraudulently handled the risk of concussions with their athletes.

This case stemmed from a consolidated class action by many former wrestlers alleging fraud by omission when the WWE knew of the risk of concussions and failed to do anything about it. Particularly, …

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