From Doe v. NFL (M.D. Ga.), filed yesterday:
That declare, I am fairly assured, goes nowhere. (Claims for “intentional infliction of emotional misery” based mostly on excessive and outrageous conduct are certainly viable in some conditions, however they require extremely egregious conduct, usually focused on the specific plaintiff.)
Doe additionally alleges violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act (“The collusion amongst NFL groups to affect the drafting course of and the following low number of Shedeur Sanders constitutes a conspiracy to restrain commerce and restrict competitors throughout the league”) and federal antidiscrimination legislation (“The choices made relating to Sanders could have been influenced by racial discrimination, violating his rights as a participant”).
However in fact he would not have standing to problem alleged harms to Sanders. And Doe additionally claims that “The NFL could have engaged in unfair practices by misrepresenting the character of the drafting course of and the {qualifications} of gamers,” which is just too imprecise to investigate.
Plaintiff seeks a “formal acknowledgment from the NFL relating to the emotional misery brought on by their actions and statements,” a “retraction of the slanderous statements made about Shedeur Sanders, together with an apology,” “[i]mplementation of fairer practices within the drafting course of,” and $100M in punitive damages “for the hurt precipitated to [Doe] and the affect of the NFL’s actions on his emotional well-being.”
Plaintiff states that he is unable to pay the submitting charges, so the courtroom will display screen it to find out (amongst different issues) whether or not it is “frivolous,” which is to say “it lacks an controversial foundation both in legislation or in reality.” I anticipate the courtroom to certainly promptly dismiss it as frivolous.
UPDATE: Prof. Andy Geronimo (Case Western) Tweets: “Unsure it is [intentional infliction of emotional distress] to see your favourite school participant fall to the fifth spherical of the draft, however a declare that you just now should be a Cleveland Browns fan is [plausible].”
