Garber v. Office of the Commissioner of Baseball
Case # | 12-cv-03704 |
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Case Name | Garber v. Office of the Commissioner of Baseball |
Jurisdiction | US District Court for S.D. NY |
Summary | Plaintiffs allege that Major League Baseball violated anti-trust laws to control televised access to their games. MLB allows member clubs to create regional monopolies wherein member clubs receive anticompetative protections in exchange for not infringing on the protections of other clubs. Consumers who wish to watch "out of market" games must do so through through MLB-owned MLB.TV or "MLB Extra Innings." Since access to the games is so tightly controlled, MLB is able to charge inflated prices for the product. As an example, a St. Louis Cardinals fan living in San Francisco would only be able to watch games that happened to be broadcast on network television, unless they purchased the expensive "out of market" packages. |
Final Approval Date | 04/27/2016 |
Result |
The Court characterized Mr. Bandas' objection strategy as:
The Court also express concern that Mr. Bandas was trying to avoid the jurisdiction of the District Court, noting,
Despite having the Court serious misgivings about Mr. Bandas' conduct, calling it "unfitting for any member of the legal profession" (Order Declining to Impose Sanctions, page 9), Mr. Bandas' apparent strategy to avoid sanctions was successful, in that the Court found insufficient grounds to sanction him since he did not file an appearance. The Court noted that
The Court also required Mr. Bandas to produce a copy of the quoted Order to all local counsel he retains for future objections before the Southern District of New York. |
Dismissal of Last Appeal | 07/14/2016 |
Attachments | Docket Report.pdf Second Amended Class Action Complaint.pdf Preliminary Approval Order.pdf Plaintiff's Response to Objections.pdf Final Approval Order.pdf Transcript of Sanctions Hearing.pdf Order Declining to Impose Sanctions.pdf https://www.law360.com/classaction/articles/895739/-unprofessional-atty-avoids-sanctions-in-mlb-tv-settlement http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/federal_judge_blasts_at_best_unprofessional_behavior_of_lawyer_once_deemed http://www.newyorklawjournal.com/this-weeks-news/id=1202780180484/Judge-Blasts-Serial-Objector-and-Orders-Him-to-Share-Her-Order-With-Local-Counsel?mcode=1202615036097&curindex=1&slreturn=20170208120815 |
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