Tag: Lawsuit

BREAKING: Judge recommends Blackwell lawsuit against MSU’s Mark Dantonio, others be dismissed

A West Michigan magistrate has recommended that the Curtis Blackwell lawsuit against Mark Dantonio and others at MSU be dismissed.

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In a stark turn of events, U.S. magistrate judge Sally Berens of West Michigan has recommended that the lawsuit brought forth by former Michigan State recruiting coordinator Curtis Blackwell against MSU’s former football head coach Mark Dantonio, former athletic director Mark Hollis, and former University president Lou Anna Simon for wrongful termination be dismissed. This breaking news was first reported by Matt Wenzel of Mlive.com.

Berens also recommended that Blackwell’s lawyers Andrew Paterson and Thomas Warnicke be removed from Blackwell’s counsel. Tony Paul of the Detroit News has also reported on this story, saying that the recommendation was made due to “misuse” of court procedure and harassment of Dantonio.

This development could lead to the swift conclusion of a lawsuit that has dragged on since 2018. The recommendation for case dismissal did not apply to Blackwell’s lawsuit against two Michigan State University Police detectives who he has accused of unlawful arrest.

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Nate Diaz could take legal action against Miami Herald

Nate Diaz could take legal action against a major newspaper after a published story incorrectly linked the UFC star to a domestic violence case.

Nate Diaz could take legal action against a major newspaper after a published story incorrectly linked the UFC star to a domestic violence case.

Gayle Benson issues statement amid Saints’ involvement in Catholic abuse lawsuit

New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson released a statement regarding her team’s involvement in a lawsuit against the local Catholic Church.

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New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson released a lengthy statement regarding the team’s involvement in a lawsuit against the local Catholic Archdiocese, detailing her relationship with Archbishop Gregory Michael Aymond and the actions taken by Saints team personnel.

A lawsuit was recently filed against the Archdiocese alleging systemic abuse by clergy, and the Saints were implicated as having gone to court to protect email correspondence with the Church during a report from the Associated Press. A later report from the plaintiffs’ attorneys provided alleged details about the involvement of Saints staffers such as Greg Bensel, the senior vice president of communications.

In her statement, Benson confirmed that Bensel was asked to help the Church’s communications staff and that she has no regrets about the recommendations he made. She also dismissed the report that any Saints personnel were involved in choosing which accused clergy’s names should be made public back in 2018. However, she doubled down on the decision to involve the Saints in the situation with the Church.

Benson wrote, “We are proud of the role we played and yes, in hindsight, we would help again to assist the Archdiocese in its ability to publish the list with the hope of taking this step to heal the community. In addition, we already turned over every email to the court and plaintiff attorneys.”

Later, attorneys representing the plaintiffs responded in a brief statement to The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate, refuting Benson’s account of the events:

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Saints going to court to protect emails allegedly related to Catholic church abuse

The New Orleans Saints will be represented during a lawsuit involving the local archdiocese and a growing scandal surrounding alleged abuse.

The New Orleans Saints have been involved in court filings against the local Roman Catholic archdiocese, with allegations that hundreds of emails from within the Saints organization show that team personnel helped assist the archdiocese with public relations in the aftermath of the church’s sexual abuse crisis, according to a Friday report by The Associated Press.

Attorneys representing two dozen plaintiffs wrote in a court filing, “Obviously, the Saints should not be in the business of assisting the Archdiocese, and the Saints’ public relations team is not in the business of managing the public relations of criminals engaged in pedophilia. The Saints realize that if the documents at issue are made public, this professional sports organization also will be smearing itself.”

Saints attorneys argued against the suggestion that the Saints acted as an organization in assisting the archdiocese, claiming that any email correspondence was private and should not be released as “fodder for the public.” Team staff allegedly implicated in these emails include Senior Vice President of Communications Greg Bensel.

Team owner Gayle Benson’s connections to the archdiocese run deep; she is lifelong friends with Archbishop Gregory Aymond, who often accompanies her to games and assisted in her late husband Tom Benson’s funeral proceedings. She is devoutly Catholic and frequently donates to the church.

As of Friday, the Saints have declined to make any public comments. It is unclear whether the team will face any repercussions from the NFL for potential violations of its personal conduct policy. This is very much a developing situation, and what it means for the Saints as a team or for key personnel remains to be seen. Stay tuned for updates.

Adrien Broner ordered to pay woman $830,000 for sexual assault

Adrien Broner was ordered to pay $830,000 to a woman who accused him of sexual assault in a Cleveland nightclub in 2018.

Adrien Broner can’t keep his hands to himself outside of the ring if accusations are true.

The Cincinnati boxer’s latest alleged misstep has him on the hook for $830,000 to be paid to a woman who accused him of sexual assault in a Cleveland nightclub in 2018. An Ohio judge from Cuyahoga County delivered the verdict on Tuesday after Broner failed to show up to defend himself. Broner’s lawyers previously withdrew from the case.

Sound familiar?

In 2016, Broner choked a waitress at a nightclub, according to police. He was cited for that.

In 2017, he was accused of groping a woman at a shopping mall in Atlanta but charges were later dropped. That same year, he was arrested for failing to appear in court on charges of disorderly conduct and alcohol intoxication in 2014.

According to the lawsuit in his latest incident, Broner forced himself on the plaintiff while seated on a couch, kissing her without her consent. After initially denying the allegations, Broner pleaded guilty in April.

Broner also is dealing with another legal matter. His name reportedly was linked to a particularly dark drug and money laundering scheme.

Broner has claimed to be retired.

 

 

Hank Haney files lawsuit against PGA Tour after radio show firing

Haney says PGA Tour wanted to “settle an old score” against him in a lawsuit filed after he was fired from a Sirius radio show.

Hank Haney is taking on the PGA Tour.

The former golf coach and current on-air personality filed a lawsuit against the PGA Tour, Inc. Wednesday morning in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Haney is seeking damages for harm he says the PGA Tour caused by allegedly interfering with his show on SiriusXM’s PGA Tour Radio station.

In his lawsuit, Haney claims the PGA Tour had “long-standing animus” toward him dating from a desire to “settle an old score” relating to his 2012 book, The Big Miss, about his relationship with Tiger Woods, whom he coached for six years.

After a controversy surrounding the U.S. Women’s Open, Haney was originally suspended, then dismissed from his show with Steve Johnson due to insensitive comments about the potential winner of the Open:

Johnson: “This week is the 74th U.S. Women’s Open, Hank.”

Haney: “Oh it is? I’m gonna predict a Korean.”

Johnson, laughing: “OK, that’s a pretty safe bet.”

Haney: “I couldn’t name you six players on the LPGA Tour. Maybe I could. Well … I’d go with Lee. If I didn’t have to name a first name, I’d get a bunch of them right.”

The lawsuit claims that his firing “cost [Haney] advertising revenues that would have amounted to millions of dollars over the life of the agreement.”

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Banned Utah fan sues Russell Westbrook, Jazz for $100 million

The lawsuit seeks $100 million in damages from the Utah Jazz and Westbrook, who accused the fan of making racist comments at a March game.

Shane Keisel, who received a lifetime arena ban by the Utah Jazz in March, is now suing the team and Houston Rockets star Russell Westbrook. The fan claims he was wrongly accused of yelling racist and derogatory remarks at Westbrook, who then played for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

According to the new lawsuit, Keisel and his girlfriend, Jennifer Huff, want a public apology and significant financial damages. The attorneys are seeking $68 million in damages for Keisel and $32 million for Huff on claims of defamation and infliction of emotional distress.

According to Benjamin Wood and Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune, attempts to reach Westbrook or his representation were not immediately successful. However, TMZ reported Tuesday that a source close to Westbrook referred to the lawsuit as “meritless.”

Per TMZ, the source said:

The lawsuit is meritless. The Jazz conducted their own investigation of the guy’s conduct at that game and based on their investigation, they decided to ban him from attending any future Jazz games.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in the 4th District Court in Utah County on behalf of Keisel and Huff. In their story, Wood and Larsen explain the lawsuit’s details and allegations:

A video of Westbrook shouting at Keisel and Huff was widely circulated on social media, but Westbrook later said he was provoked by Keisel telling him to “get down on your knees like you used to.”

But in the lawsuit, attorneys for Keisel argue that Westbrook misheard or mischaracterized Keisel’s comments, and that Keisel had told Westbrook to wrap his knees to be better able to play later on in the game.

The lawsuit goes on to describe an escalating controversy in which Westbrook described Keisel’s comments as racist, Westbrook’s fans campaigned for Keisel to be fired from his job — which he ultimately was — and the Jazz took punitive action against Keisel based exclusively on Westbrook’s version of events.

Frank Zang, senior vice president of communications for the Larry H. Miller Sports and Entertainment ownership group, said in a newly released statement to The Salt Lake Tribune that there is no legal or factual basis for the lawsuit’s claims.

“The organization investigated the underlying incident and acted in an appropriate and responsible manner,” Zang said. “We intend to vigorously defend [against] the lawsuit.”

When the Jazz banned Keisel in March, their statement made it clear that other evidence from their investigation — including video review and eyewitness accounts — corroborated Westbrook’s story:

The organization conducted an investigation through video review and eyewitness accounts. The ban is based on excessive and derogatory verbal abuse directed at a player during the game that violated the NBA Code of Conduct.

The Utah Jazz will not tolerate fans who act inappropriately. There is no place in our game for personal attacks or disrespect.

“Everyone deserves the opportunity to enjoy and play the game in a safe, positive and inclusive environment,” Steve Starks, president of the Jazz, said at the time. Offensive and abusive behavior does not reflect the values of the Miller family, our organization and the community. We all have a responsibility to respect the game of basketball and, more importantly, each other as human beings.”

Jazz players supported Westbrook after the game, with star guard Donovan Mitchell issuing a lengthy statement explaining his perspective.

In that statement, Mitchell noted that “this is not the first time something like this has happened in our arena.” In Westbrook’s own comments issued after that March 11 game, he indicated that many disrespectful things had been said to him in Utah over the course of his NBA career.

To that point, days after the first incident, the Jazz also permanently banned a second fan after video surfaced of another inappropriate interaction with Westbrook during the 2018 NBA playoffs.

Westbrook’s first visit to Salt Lake City of the 2019-20 season is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 27, when the Jazz host the Rockets.

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Banned Jazz fan files $100M suit against team, Russell Westbrook

The fan permanently banned from Utah Jazz games after a verbal altercation with Russell Westbrook last March filed a lawsuit on Monday.

The fan that was permanently banned from Vivint Smart Home Arena after a verbal altercation last year with Russell Westbrook is suing the point guard and the Utah Jazz.

The suit, filed on Monday, was obtained by the Salt Lake City Tribune.

In it, attorneys for Shane Keisel argue that “Keisel engaged only in typical crowd behavior when he and his girlfriend Jennifer Huff were subjected to a ‘tirade’ from and ‘irate’ Westbrook”.

Attorneys are seeking $68 million in damages for Keisel and $32 million for Huff for “defamation and emotional distress”.

The incident at the center of the lawsuit occurred last March when the Jazz were hosting Oklahoma City and the-Thunder point guard, Westbrook.

After that game, a video from Jazz beat writer Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News that went viral showed Westbrook in a heated exchange saying, “I’ll (expletive) you up. You and your wife”.

(Warning: The video contains explicit language.)

Westbrook claimed that the fan told him to “get down on your knees like you used to”, adding that the comment was “completely disrespectful, racial and completely inappropriate”.

Keisel said in an interview with KSL that he simply told Westbrook to “ice those knees up”, and the lawsuit reiterates those claims, stating, “Mr. Keisel’s heckling was of the same kind and caliber as that of the other audience members in the section.”

The Jazz issued Keisel a lifetime ban in March, while the NBA fined Westbrook $25,000 for “directing profanity and threatening language to a fan.”

Per the Salt Lake Tribune, neither attorneys for Keisel and Huff nor representatives for Westbrook had responded to attempts for comment.

Former employee sues promoter Greg Cohen for $1.5 million

Promoter Greg Cohen has at least one legal wrangle to sort out before he heads to federal prison. Clifford Mass seeks $1.5 million

Promoter Greg Cohen has at least one legal wrangle to sort out before he heads to federal prison.

Clifford Mass, a former employee of Cohen’s promotional company, is seeking more than $1.5 million in damages from Cohen for breach of contract, unpaid wages, breach of fiduciary duties, misrepresentation and fraud over an investment agreement that has not been fulfilled. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York on Jan. 31 of last year. The parties are expected to settle at a conference scheduled for Dec. 4.

Cohen was sentenced last week to six months in federal prison for wire fraud unrelated to boxing. He had 60 days to turn himself in.

According to Mass’ complaint, in March 2015 he invested $250,000 in Greg Cohen Promotions for a 5 percent financial stake. The arrangement called for Mass to “receive a 25 percent preferred return of the Promotional Profits until (he) received his $250,000.00 investment back” in addition to receiving “5 percent of the Promotional Profits in perpetuity.” Promotional profits are defined as revenue generated from not only GCP-promoted events, but also cases in which GCP fighters participated in events organized by other promoters. Cohen’s best known fighter is heavyweight contender Jarrell Miller (co-promoted by Dmitry Salita), who received a six-month ban in New York after testing positive for PEDs ahead of his projected fight against Anthony Joshua last summer.

Mass was employed by GCP from April 2015 to February 2018, or up until he filed his claim. His official title at GCP was Vice President of Business Development. According to the complaint, Mass was described at one point on the GCP website as “Right-hand man to Greg Cohen. … He works closely with Greg in talent acquisition, relationship management, strategic planning and various day-to-day aspects of the business.”

Mass claims that ever since he entered into the investment agreement, he has not received his cut from more than 40 GCP events and others staged by outside promoters, which include, but are not limited to, the following:

July 29, 2017 bout featuring Jarrell Miller
Nov. 11, 2017 bout featuring Jarrell Miller
Dec. 19, 2016 bout featuring Mason Menard
April 8, 2016 bout featuring Eric Hunter
March 5, 2016 bout featuring Antoine Douglas
Dec. 5, 2014 bout featuring Dennis Hogan
April 15, 2014 featuring Tony Louis

Mass is also looking to recover $14,000 he says he loaned to Cohen in January 2016. Mass says Cohen “demanded” the loan and that it would be repaid in two months. Mass arranged to wire the loan out of “concern for retribution.”

The lawsuit comes to light as Cohen stares down a six-month prison sentence for wire fraud after accepting $200,000 from an unnamed party for an investment that was never made.

WATCH: Memphis basketball star James Wiseman withdraws lawsuit against NCAA

James Wiseman and his legal team withdrew their lawsuit against the NCAA on Thursday.

Memphis basketball star James Wiseman and the NCAA seem to be one step closer to a resolution as the freshman fights for eligibility.

Wiseman and his legal team withdrew their lawsuit against the NCAA on Thursday as, per a statement from his legal team, the lawsuit against the NCAA is impeding a resolution regarding his eligibility.

The NCAA declared him ineligible in early November due to an “extra benefit” from 2017. Wiseman and his mother, Donzaleigh Artis, accepted approximately $11,000 from Penny Hardaway, who was a high school basketball coach in Memphis at the time. Though Hardaway was not working for the University of Memphis at that point, he was considered a booster as he had made a $1 million donation to the university back in 2008.

Wiseman’s legal team filed the suit last week because he had already been declared eligible for this season back in May. The lawsuit deemed the NCAA’s actions “arbitrary and capricious.”

Memphis has declared Wiseman ineligible as the NCAA continues its work on the case. In a statement released Thursday, Memphis announced that it would immediately apply for Wiseman’s reinstatement. The team leader in points, rebounds and blocks will be able to practice with his team as the NCAA’s investigation continues.