Fraudulent inducement lawsuit (Weber, etc.)

Submitted by Wolverine 73 on

The Roquan Smith and Mike Weber recruitment stories cry out for someone to take on the NCAA and a school like UCLA or OSU and sue to rescind a NLI for fraudulent inducement.  These kids are being misled into thinking guys who have jobs elsewhere are going to be coaching them, and they get trapped in the NCAA regulations and have to miss a year if they are PO'd that the coach left.  Weber has perfect facts for a lawsuit: he was conflicted at the last minute, his "position coach" at OSU was recruiting him hard, the guy obviously had the Bears job in his pocket and was waiting until after signing day to announce.  Weber can easily allege he would not have chosen OSU had he known the true facts.  Discovery into the text messages, emails and phone records among Urbs, his RB coach, the Bears etc. would be fascinating.  I'd wager there is testimony to be had (probably from the Bears) that "we need to keep this quiet until after signing day."  Fraudulent inducement allows you to rescind the NLI, meaning it never existed.  NCAA regulations can't trump the law of the land. I would love to see one of these kids get PO'd enough to bring this abusive system down.

iamtjeff

February 6th, 2015 at 10:35 AM ^

There would be a lot of discovery to be had, especially with respect to the LOI, but I wouldn't immediate dismiss a suit of this kind occurring at some point in the near future. The relief would be a release from the SA's obligations. It would probably result in a settlement because neither the NCAA or university in question would want the negative press, so it would probably never be litigated, administratively or judicially.




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dwinning

February 6th, 2015 at 12:38 PM ^

The problem is that even if one of these kids filed this lawsuit today, it wouldn't get resolved for at least 18 to 24 months and by that time the point would be moot for everyone involved in the case.  

I'm not too up on the NCAA rules or what potential consequences to another school might be, but one way to do it might be for one of the kids to find a school that is willing to take up the fight against this kind of thing, enroll in that school and have the school announce that he's going to play without sitting out a year - essentially announce that the school and the kid are deeming the LOI fraudulently induced and invalid.  Then let the original school and the NCAA sue the school and the kid, such that the old school and the NCAA would have to prove that the LOI is valid and enforceable.  Meanwhile maybe the kid plays or redshirts.  Probably no school would want to fight the NCAA on that though(?).  

AZ-Blue

February 6th, 2015 at 1:52 PM ^

Seems there should be some avenue of appeal to the NCAA on this that could get an expedited ruling without the need for a civil action.  With the timelines involved, it seems enforcement of the rule prohibiting the player from signing elsewhere despite the clear evidence of fraudulent inducement would be counter to the rule's objectives.

 

seegoblu

February 6th, 2015 at 2:14 PM ^

for Weber to seek injunctive relief, perhaps a temporay restraining order that would prevent OSU/NCAA from enforcing the LOI?

It's been a long time since I was a litigator, but the damage to Weber seems immediate and irreversable if he is forced to enroll at OSU and made to wait until the process plays out.

GoBLUinTX

February 6th, 2015 at 6:24 PM ^

Quantum physics scientist who insist that the probablitly of an electron being simultaneously in two different locations in the universe is from zero to one.  Which to them means that it is possible.

State Street

February 6th, 2015 at 10:37 AM ^

Putting aside the validity of the legal arguments, which are dubious, it would be logistically impossible for this to all go down.  The NLI stipulates that any disputes go through arbitration.  There are two levels I believe, the initial arbitration and then an appeals board.  This is all done internally through the NCAA, who we know have always been swift to dish out justice.

So once the arbitration is done the prospect would have to file in court.  This would all need to be done before the prospect is slated to enroll in school and participate in summer conditioning, approximately four months.  There is just no way that something like this would ever go down logistically.  This is not even including finding a lawyer to take on the case, or even taking into account the notion that a prospect would risk being blackballed by taking on the NCAA.

I hope that clears it up. 

xtramelanin

February 6th, 2015 at 12:59 PM ^

and even though michigan has made their arbitration statute more liberal, the clause itself can be challenged in certain circumstances. 

the elements of fraudulent inducement are:

1.  statement of fact or material omission (weber case cries out for this)

2. reasonably relied upon by the other party

3.  damage suffered by them - in this case spending 4 years in colombus would be what is called 'res ipsa', meaning the thing speaks for itself how torturous it would be to stay in ohio. 

 

AZ-Blue

February 6th, 2015 at 2:03 PM ^

Rollin' out the Latin, like a barrel from a wharehouse.

You hit the nail on the head.  The fact that there was fraud in the inducement means there was no meeting of the minds, and there can be no enforcement of the LOI in the first place.

Weber can sign with Michigan and he's got an absolute defense.

SFBlue

February 7th, 2015 at 8:46 AM ^

Sorry but in my view non litigators are piker asses with no skin the game when push comes to shove and we are talking about representing a plaintiff who has been harmed and is looking to the only people in the world who can give him de jure recompense.

AZ-Blue

February 6th, 2015 at 2:07 PM ^

He can sign with Michigan and just let OSU file a breach of contract action.while Weber would use fraudulent inducement as a defense.  OSU would be the one floppin in the wind thru the litigation process - not the other way around.

Magnus

February 6th, 2015 at 10:24 AM ^

I'm sure Weber's feelings are hurt right now, but based on Meyer's history, he's going to hire a perfectly competent running backs coach to replace Drayton (if one hasn't already been hired). I think Weber will either be good and enjoy his time at Ohio State, or he'll get passed up and end up playing for Youngstown State or CMU in a few years. Ohio State is still Ohio State.

That's not to excuse the coaches from blame who do this. It's dirty. But the next guy is going to have some positive qualities, too.

bluebyyou

February 6th, 2015 at 10:36 AM ^

I don't think that is the point. He was sold a bill of goods, fraudulently it appears, from a coach with no intention of being there. 

If Weber quickly comes around and jumps right in and is gung ho OSU, there may be few lasting scars. If not, he is going to be seen negatively by the OSU fan base, to say nothing about the level of trust between him and the coaching staff.

The LOI can go away if Weber appeals and OSU grants his release. I wonder if Meyer would think the bad publicity that will come from this story is worth a small victory over Harbaugh. Regardless, a legal challenge alleging fraud in the inducement might be successful even with the merger clause.

As for Harbaugh, after Weber's comments about Michigan not being forthcoming with him about Higdon, would he even want Weber if he were available?

jmdblue

February 6th, 2015 at 10:56 AM ^

That said, I'm not gonna lose any sleep over the actions of Mikey Weber who seems to really enjoy the drama.  

As for those who talk about how huge a decision this is for these kids... I don't remember it being that stressful for me and my daughter doesn't seem to be overwhelmed by it either.  Just because athletics are involved doesn't make the decision any less important.  

Who did this right?  Tyree Kinnel, TJ Wheatly, Tyriq Thompson.  You win some and lose some, but this desire for attention wouldn't seem to be a good way to start a solid locker room.

Weber went for the team he thought would win more often and seemed to like slimebag Meyer's approach to things.  Hope he continues to like it.