Did the Wichita Falls (TX) Area Basketball Officials Association Inc. (WFABOA) violate antitrust laws when it prevented a referee from working the 2015-16 basketball season after he tried to start another local referee chapter?
That question is being addressed in federal court in Texas.
Plaintiff Charles Brasier, who has been a referee for 28 years in the University Interscholastic League (UIL), alleges specifically that the defendant violated the Sherman Act, Clayton Act, Civil Rights Act and the Texas Business and Commerce Code. He is seeking injunctive relief and damages not to exceed $1 million.
The impetus for the lawsuit was Brasier’s alleged attempt to help form a new association of basketball referees in that region of the state called the “Montague Chapter.” While the UIL denied his request, the WFABOA allegedly retaliated when it “unilaterally and without legal justification revoked Charles’ right to referee future games.” The association also informed Brasier that if he wanted to regain his standing that he would need to officiate junior high games, “presumably as a punishment, given his tenure and experience as an official,” according to the complaint.
Over the summer, the association countered with a motion to dismiss, claiming that the plaintiff’s antitrust and due process claims are meritless.
“Brasier simply recites the antitrust laws at the end of his complaint with no explanation as to how WFABOA, a private, nonprofit organization, allegedly violated the laws, and no pleading of even the basic elements of a claim,” the WFABOA wrote. “Brasier also attempts to vaguely assert a claim for deprivation of an alleged property right (his right to work as a basketball official) without due process of law.”
Elaborating on its position, the WFABOA wrote that “the Supreme Court has denounced pleadings that simply recite the bare elements of a claim. Plaintiff’s complaint does not even do that; it refers to the entire statute. That is not fair notice for the court or the defendant, and plaintiff’s claims should be dismissed for that reason alone.”
Brasier is being represented by William Douglas Knowlton, Knowlton Firm. The Wichita Falls Area Basketball Officials Association, Inc. is being represented by Robert A. Bragalone and David A. Scott, both of Gordon & Rees LLP
The case is Brasier v. Wichita Falls Area Basketball Officials Association Inc., case number 7:16-cv-00035, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
