Anne Bucher  |  March 14, 2016

Category: Consumer News

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NCAA antitrust class action lawsuitLast week, a Class of student athletes asked a California federal judge to intervene in discovery in a class action lawsuit challenging the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s rules that restrict colleges from compensating student athletes beyond their attendance costs. The students claim that several named defendants have failed to produce key documents.

On Mar. 10, the plaintiffs filed a motion to set a status conference regarding their motion to compel discovery. “Time is of the essence regarding the production of these documents given the extremely tight discovery schedule in this case, including depositions that are about to commence soon, in which these documents will be essential,” the plaintiffs argue.

According to court documents, the plaintiffs are seeking discovery of financial documents as well as contracts related to media and sponsorship. They allege that the conference defendants have failed to produce nearly all of these documents.

“Since the motion to compel was filed, Plaintiffs have continued to engage in the meet-and-confer process with the Conference Defendants, and have made additional offers of compromise beyond those outlined in the currently pending moving papers,” the plaintiffs explain in their motion.

“The Conference Defendants have rejected all of those offers and continue to stonewall against the production of virtually all of these documents,” they continue. “Plaintiffs thus request that a status conference be held to facilitate the Court’s determination of these issues.”

The plaintiffs have accused the conference defendants of attempting to “run out the clock” on producing these documents in advance of the July 15, 2016 deadline for fact discovery.

The NCAA student athlete scholarship class action lawsuits have been consolidated in multidistrict litigation in California federal court. They allege the NCAA’s bylaws prevent universities from compensating any student athlete more than the value of a full “grant-in-aid” to cover the costs of attending college. In addition to the NCAA, the athletic scholarship class action lawsuits also name the premier athletic conferences as defendants.

According to the student athlete grant-in-aid class action lawsuit, the NCAA, Pac-12, Big Ten, Big 12, Southeastern Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conferences have colluded to offer student athletes scholarships that are inadequate to pay the full costs of attending college. The plaintiffs assert that this alleged collusion violates federal antitrust laws.

The student athletes claim that these “grant-in-aid” scholarships are inadequate and do not fully cover their costs of tuition, room and board, and other fees. According to the consolidated NCAA scholarship class action lawsuit, some student athletes have had to take out loans to make up the difference.

The plaintiffs are represented by Steve W. Berman and Ashley Bede of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP; Bruce L. Simon, Aaron M. Sheanin and Benjamin E. Shiftan of Pearson Simon & Warshaw LLP; Jeffrey L. Kessler, David G. Feher, David L. Greenspan, Timothy M. Nevius, Joseph A. Litman, Sean D. Meenan and Jeanifer E. Parsigian of Winston & Strawn LLP; and Elizabeth C. Pritzker, Jonathan K. Levine, Bethany L. Caracuzzo and Shiho Yamamoto of Pritzker Levine LLP.

The NCAA Student Athlete Scholarship MDL is In re: National Collegiate Athletic Association Athletic Grant-in-Aid Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 4:14-md-02541, and Martin Jenkins, et al. v. NCAA, et al., Case No. 4:14-cv-02758, both in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On Mar. 14, 2016, the NCAA told a California federal judge that they have not been withholding documents in the multidistrict litigation over alleged antitrust violations. The NCAA conferences said the student-athlete Class that filed the memorandum made assertions that were “flatly inaccurate.”

UPDATE 2: On Aug. 5, 2016, Judge Wilken denied a motion for judgment on the pleadings submitted by the NCAA and other defendants. The judge rejected the NCAA’s argument that a related appeals court decision foreclosed Jenkins from bringing his own claims.UPDATE 3: On Feb. 3, 2017, the National Collegiate Athletic Association and 11 conferences agreed to pay $208.7 million to resolve multidistrict litigation alleging an antitrust conspiracy to cap the scholarships of student athletes.

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3 thoughts onNCAA Athletes Press Court to Compel Discovery in Class Action

  1. Top Class Actions says:

    UPDATE 3: On Feb. 3, 2017, the National Collegiate Athletic Association and 11 conferences agreed to pay $208.7 million to resolve multidistrict litigation alleging an antitrust conspiracy to cap the scholarships of student athletes.

  2. Top Class Actions says:

    UPDATE 2: On Aug. 5, 2016, Judge Wilken denied a motion for judgment on the pleadings submitted by the NCAA and other defendants. The judge rejected the NCAA’s argument that a related appeals court decision foreclosed Jenkins from bringing his own claims.

  3. Top Class Actions says:

    UPDATE: On Mar. 14, 2016, the NCAA told a California federal judge that they have not been withholding documents in the multidistrict litigation over alleged antitrust violations. The NCAA conferences said the student-athlete Class that filed the memorandum made assertions that were “flatly inaccurate.”

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