Commanders Used ‘Illegal’ Scheme To Cheat Ticket Holders, Says 2nd DC Lawsuit

WASHINGTON, DC — D.C. Legal professional Normal Karl Racine filed one other lawsuit towards the Washington Commanders on Thursday, accusing the staff of dishonest D.C. ticket holders out of their deposits for season tickets and utilizing the cash for its personal functions.

The lawsuit, the legal professional common’s second towards the staff prior to now week, was filed in D.C. Superior Court docket towards Professional Soccer Inc., the company entity that owns the Commanders.

This new lawsuit follows the D.C. Workplace of the Legal professional Normal’s preliminary lawsuit introduced Nov. 10 towards the Commanders, staff proprietor Dan Snyder, the NFL, and Commissioner Roger Goodell for colluding to deceive D.C. residents about an investigation into the staff’s office tradition and allegations of sexual assault.

The brand new lawsuit highlights “one more instance of egregious mismanagement and unlawful conduct by Commanders executives who appear decided to lie, cheat, and steal from District residents in as some ways as potential,” Racine mentioned in an announcement Thursday.

“We deserve higher, and at this time my workplace is taking motion but once more to carry them accountable,” he mentioned.

The D.C. Workplace of the Legal professional Normal mentioned it’s the first enforcement authority to take motion following a referral from the U.S. Home Committee on Oversight and Reform that despatched a letter in April to the legal professional common’s workplace and different entities sharing data on the Commanders’ enterprise practices.

D.C.’s newest lawsuit towards the staff comes because the Republicans put together to take management of the Home of Representatives. The rating Republican on the U.S. Home Committee on Oversight and Reform mentioned the committee’s investigation into the staff will finish early subsequent yr, the Related Press reported Thursday.

“It’s over,” Rep. James Comer of Kentucky mentioned in a quick assertion Wednesday, which got here after The Related Press projected Republicans had clinched a slim majority within the Home.

Within the new lawsuit, the legal professional common’s workplace argued that since 1996, the Washington Commanders have bought season ticket contracts to D.C. followers, a few of which required a considerable safety deposit. The Commanders promised the ticket holders that they might robotically get the deposits inside 30 days of the contracts’ expiration. However the staff held on to the cash — generally for over a decade — and used the ticket proceeds for its personal functions, the legal professional common mentioned within the lawsuit.

When ticket holders requested their deposits be returned, the Commanders “deliberately sophisticated the return course of by imposing additional, burdensome situations that weren’t beforehand adequately disclosed,” Racine’s workplace mentioned.

“On account of these misleading practices, the staff illegally withheld lots of of 1000’s of {dollars} from District residents,” the legal professional common mentioned in a information launch.

Within the lawsuit filed final week, Racine argued that Snyder and Goodell colluded to bury the outcomes of the NFL’s investigation into the franchise’s poisonous office tradition. Racine mentioned Snyder and Goodell deliberately deceived D.C. residents in regards to the investigation to guard the league’s picture and earnings.

Within the new lawsuit, the legal professional common’s workplace mentioned it’s asking the court docket to cease the staff’s “unlawful practices,” pay D.C. ticket holders again what they’re owed and impose monetary penalties on the staff for violations of D.C.’s Shopper Safety Procedures Act.