“Nola No Call” Suit Sacked, Dismissed Before the End Zone

Posted by

A lawsuit alleging an improper call by an NFL referee has been dismissed.

The suit was filed by attorney Antonio Le Mon and three others after the NFC Championship playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams. In the game, the referees failed to make a call on a pass interference against the Rams; had the call been made, the Saints would have been in a better position to win the game. The NFL later admitted that the circumstances warranted a pass interference call.

The incident gave rise to several lawsuits by angry Saints fans who were upset by the Nola no call.  However, the Saints themselves sided with the NFL in the lawsuit. While appreciating the support, the Saints are ready to move on, and joined sides with the NFL to oppose the suit for damages.

While a bad call can be upsetting, allowing a lawsuit to move forward to challenge a call can set a dangerous precedent not only for the NFL, but for all professional sports. However, integrity and ethics are important in professional sports, and referees should be held to high standards while performing their duties.

Most suits against the NFL regarding the no call have been dismissed. Le Mon’s lawsuit, however, was under the minimum federal “amount in controversy” threshold to remain in state court before it was ultimately dismissed, ending one of the last viable suits against the NFL.

Le Mon is glad that the suit brought attention to issues of integrity in calls at the league, but feels as though ticket holders have little recourse when improper calls are made, and are entitled to very little besides a seat in the stadium. In a press release, Le Mon stated that once in the stadium, “the NFL has a license to do whatever it wants to us little ticket-holders, even to commit fraud and deceptive consumer trade practices against us without any civil recourse.”

While Le Mon won at the lower court, the Supreme Court of Louisiana dismissed the suit with prejudice.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.