‘Hail Mary’ suit filed by Patriots fans over Deflategate loss of draft picks
Todd Orsatti’s daughter is only 7 years old. But she is already jaded by the so-called “Deflategate” scandal that lead to National Football League punishment of the New England Patriots, says the season ticket holder in a federal lawsuit filed by fans.
“She will no longer go to games with him because she thinks the games are fixed by the NFL after her team was punished based merely on conjecture,” the complaint contends. “She is talking about finding another team, which has left Orsatti ‘devastated.’ ”
Filed Tuesday in Boston on behalf of Patriots fans by Maine attorney Seth Carey, the suit seeks to regain the team’s first-round draft pick in April 2016, among other relief. It contends that the punishment was arbitrary and capricious since an investigation didn’t definitively prove the “more probable than not” plot to deflate footballs in the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts in 2015, according to Associated Press and the Boston Herald.
Characterized by the AP as a “Hail Mary,” the suit is based on a law professor’s analysis that the fans lack standing to sue over the NFL’s sanctioning of the team. The complaint contends that the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act was violated and asserts claims for alleged racketeering, fraud, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The NFL and the team declined to comment Wednesday, the news agency says.
Michael McCann, a law professor at the University of New Hampshire, predicts that the suit is unlikely to succeed, according to the AP.
“Paying for a ticket to watch the Patriots play isn’t interfered with by the team losing a draft pick or two,” he said.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “NFL fines Patriots $1M, eliminates 2 draft picks, suspends QB Tom Brady 4 games for ‘Deflategate’”
ABAJournal.com: “Judge overturns Tom Brady’s suspension in ‘deflategate’ scandal”
ESPN: “NFL files final appeal in Tom Brady Deflategate case”
Sports Illustrated: “Tom Brady could be in trouble after Deflategate appeal hearing”
