On Wednesday October 28, 2015, a group of former-collegiate athletes filed a motion for sanctions against the attorneys representing objecting class members in their own lawsuit. This comes as the latest in a long and well-publicized class action suit brought by the former athletes against the NCAA and Electronic Arts, Inc., for violations relating to the use of their likeness and images in video games.
Filed with the Ninth Circuit, this motion for sanctions comes in response to what the plaintiffs believe is nothing more than an attempt by two attorneys, Scott A. Kron and Caroline V. Tucker, to draw out the litigation to collect fees. The case is currently on appeal because even though a settlement agreement was reached in favor of the former athletes for nearly $60 million, two members of the class objected to the settlement, forcing the Ninth Circuit to review whether or not it was fair and just. Those objectors are represented by Kron and Tucker, who the rest of the plaintiff class believes are only appealing the settlement so that they may garner more attorneys’ fees through this frivolous appeal.
In their motion, the athletes argue that the settlement appeal is brought further to delay the process of distributing award money to the nearly 23,000 former athletes who accepted the settlement and had valid claims against the defendants for using their likeness without their consent. The class continued to say that attorneys Kron and Tucker confirmed in writing that they would drop the appeals for a collective $270,000 – none of which, the athletes claim, would be distributed amongst their two objecting clients. This impropriety, they argue, cannot be allowed to continue to disrupt the otherwise complete lawsuit. In conjunction with their motion for sanctions, the plaintiffs also filed a motion for summary disposition, arguing that the Ninth Circuit should drop the objectors’ appeal altogether.
The NCAA and Electronic Arts, Inc., filed similar motions for sanctions against the objectors, and specifically their representatives, earlier this month.