Tag: Lawsuit

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.