Football Coach Suspended for On-Field Prayer Gets High-Profile Support While Awaiting Supreme Court Writ

On August 1^st, Bobby Bowden, retired Florida State University football coach, submitted an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court in support of Joseph Kennedy’s appeal to allow the high school coach to pray with his football players on the field immediately after games. Bowden argued that denying Kennedy the opportunity for on-field prayer is an infringement on religious freedom.

As we have previously reported, Bremerton School District suspended Kennedy in 2015 after Kennedy disobeyed the public school district’s ban on his …

August 6, 2018 General / Litigation / NFL

Two Former NFL Players Dispute Rightful Ownership of Miami Property

On August 2, 2018, a judge denied an “emergency motion” requesting a temporary injunction to prevent a Miami property purportedly owned by former NFL player, Antonio Bryant, from being conveyed to a third party by another former NFL player, Chuck Sanders. Bryant filed the motion after claiming that Sanders forged Bryant’s signature on a 2012 deed to himself, and in February 2018, inappropriately conveyed Bryant’s North Miami Beach parcel to a Pennsylvania company called DTT North LLC (“DTT”).

The dispute began after Sanders made a …

August 6, 2018 Concussions / Litigation / NFL

NFL Concussion Settlement Payouts Far Ahead of Schedule

As we recently reported, the district judge overseeing the NFL’s billion dollar concussion settlement has refused the NFL’s request for a special investigator to uncover potentially fraudulent claimants. Since then, claims administrators in the settlement process have released a report indicating that over $500 million in claims had been approved for payout as of July 30, 2018, which is 8 years ahead of the 10-year, $400 million projection.

Just weeks ago, counsel for the NFL conjectured that the total settlement would reach approximately $1.4 …

August 3, 2018 Antitrust / Class Actions

UFC Moves for Summary Judgment in Antitrust Class Action

On July 30, Zuffa LLC—parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (“UFC”)—moved for summary judgment, requesting the dismissal of an antitrust suit filed against them by a proposed class of mixed martial arts (“MMA”) fighters. While the MMA fighters allege that the UFC engaged in anti-competitive practices to dominate the MMA industry and restrict fighters’ wages, the UFC counters that there is no evidence of such activity, instead contending that fighters’ wages are increasing.

The action was originally filed in 2014 by fighters Cung …

August 2, 2018 Fraud / NCAA

NCAA Bribery Scandal UPDATE: Former Auburn Coach Moves to Dismiss Charges

On July 27, 2018, Chuck Connors Person, a former NBA player and former Auburn University assistant coach, asked the court, once again, to dismiss the government’s charges against him. According to Person’s memorandum, “the government filed a superseding indictment, which abandoned the original wire fraud conspiracy theory and presented an entirely different wire fraud charge against Person. However, the superseding indictment did not fix any of the problems of the original indictment and, according to Person, the government “failed to advance any persuasive arguments …

August 1, 2018 Labor & Employment / Litigation / NCAA

Judge Denies NCAA’s Motion to Dismiss in Student Athlete’s Wage Suit

On July 25, 2018, U.S. District Judge Michael M. Baylson denied the NCAA and Villanova University’s motion to dismiss in Lawrence “Poppy” Livers’ amended lawsuit. As we have previously reported, Livers sued the NCAA claiming that the NCAA, Villanova, and other universities were violating the minimum wage provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Livers likened college athletes to paid student employees and claimed they should be compensated as such.

The NCAA and Villanova moved to dismiss the amended lawsuit because it was …

July 30, 2018 Class Actions / Concussions / Litigation / NHL

Former NHL Players Will Not Appeal

Michael Cashman, a Minnesota lawyer representing former NHL players who filed lawsuits against the NHL, said that the former NHL players would not appeal United States District Judge Susan Richard Nelson’s decision. As we have recently covered, Judge Nelson declined to certify a class of thousands of former NHL players who sued the NHL. The player claimed that the league failed to inform them of the health risks caused by concussions and head-related trauma, even though the league had knowledge of such information. Judge …

July 29, 2018 Doping / Olympics

Ryan Lochte Facing 14-Month Suspension for IV Infusion

12-time U.S. Olympic gold medalist, Ryan Lochte, is currently facing a 14-month suspension for violating World Anti-Doping Agency regulations. The unintended reprieve comes at the swimmer’s own hand – his suspension is a direct response to his social media post, which showed him receiving an intravenous infusion. The photo came to the attention of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), which became suspicious and launched an investigation, ultimately finding that although the substances comprising the treatment were permissible, the volume of the substance exceeded the permissible …

July 28, 2018 Concussions / Litigation / WWE

Attorney Sanctioned in WWE Concussion Suit

On July 22, 2018, U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant upheld sanctions against attorney Konstantine Kyros. As we have previously covered, Kyros represented former WWE wrestlers, Evan Singleton and Vito LoGrasso, in their concussion suit against WWE. The recommendation for sanctions stemmed from Kyros’ failure to adequately respond to interrogatories amid discovery. Despite being given more than one opportunity to amend his deficient responses; however, he did not.

According to the decision, on January 27, 2016, WWE served Singleton and LoGrasso with interrogatories. On …

July 27, 2018 NFL

Judge from Deflategate Case Declines Autograph Request from Fan

On July 19, 2018, Scott Smith, an avid Sports Illustrated magazine collector, emailed U.S. District Judge Richard S. Berman requesting his autograph on the cover of the September 14, 2015 issue of Sports Illustrated magazine. According to the email, one of Smith’s lifelong passions is “collecting autographs on my covers of Sports Illustrated magazine.” According to Smith, he has the world’s largest personal collection of autographed SI magazines, about 20,000 magazines in total. His collection is allegedly well documented, he has appeared in Sports …

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