LITIGATION UPDATES – SEPTEMBER 2015
Clippers Fined $250,000
The NBA announced that it fined the Los Angeles Clippers with $250,000 over allegedly holding a pitch meeting to a free agent that included an improper third-party endorsement opportunity.
Prompting the fine was a July 2 presentation that the Clippers made to free agent DeAndre Jordan, which the league said improperly included a potential third-party endorsement opportunity. Details of the proposed opportunity were not disclosed.
Such offers violate the league’s anti-circumvention rules, which prohibit teams from offering players unauthorized business or investment opportunities, according to a statement.
“While the NBA’s investigation ultimately concluded that the presentation of this opportunity had no impact on Jordan’s decision to re-sign with the Clippers, the team’s conduct nevertheless violated the league’s anti-circumvention rules,” the NBA said in a statement.
Jordan re-signed with the Clippers for a reported four-year $87 million contract.
Doctor Committed Insurance Fraud
A California gynecologist pled guilty in federal court to buying intrauterine devices that hadn’t been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration online, giving them to patients without their consent and then charging insurance as if they were approved.
The FDA told Dr. Paul S. Singh, 55, to stop using the contraceptive devices, but he continued to do so, according to prosecutors. Singh is facing up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine after pleading guilty to one count of mail fraud.
Bikram Yoga Founder Dodges Sex Assault Suit
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge threw out a sexual assault lawsuit alleging Bikram yoga founder Bikram Choudhury brainwashed a female yoga instructor, forced her to serve him and raped her, saying the woman’s complaint included irrelevant matters such as her life history and emotions.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Teresa Sanchez-Gordon said she was striking the complaint with leave to amend because its pleadings were not drawn in conformity with California law and contained “irrelevant and improper matter.”
“Plaintiff’s life history, her emotions, her conversations with her friends, etc., should not be in the complaint. Neither should citations to authority or reprinting of code sections,” Judge Sanchez-Gordon said. “I’m going to give you another opportunity, and that will probably be the last, and then I will seriously have to consider dismissing the entire case.”