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Cheaty McCheaterson and The New England Cheatriots sued for almost $200 million

screminJet.jpgCarl Mayer is a Jets fan, which means he is, by definition, living in a constant state of depression and misery. But now he’s found an outlet for these negative emotions, in the form of a class action lawsuit against the New England Patriots and their head coach Bill Belichick. As you no doubt know, the Pats got themselves in a bit of trouble for violating an NFL rule banning the use of video cameras, on the sidelines, to record opposing teams’ signal calling. They were caught doing just that in their first game of the season, when they were playing the Jets.

And so now Mayer has sued the team and its coach, claiming a host of violations, including of state and federal racketeering laws, and of New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Mayer’s lawsuit contends that these actions “violated the integrity of the game” and deceived all Jets ticket holders. Thus, Mayer would like to make his law suit a class action on behalf of all Jets fans, and he’s looking for over $184 million in damages:

The lawsuit maintains that because other teams found illicit videotaping by the defendants, Jets ticket holders should be compensated for all games played in Giants Stadium between the Jets and Patriots since Belichick became head coach in 2000.
The two calculated that because customers paid $61.6 million to watch eight “fraudulent” games, they’re entitled to triple that amount — or $184.8 million — in compensation under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act and the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.
“How many times have the Patriots done this? We find it hard to believe they did it just once,” Mayer said. “We just want to get to the truth of the matter of what the Patriots did to the Jets. I think the ticket holders are genuinely concerned about it. This is a type of misrepresentation.”

If I were Mayer, I’d think about suing the Jets for fraudulently representing themselves as a professional football team, but that’s just me.

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Comments

Wow...Seth...And you thought I was mean about the Phillies. This is how you get back at me? Knocking my Jets? Touche Sir.

In terms of the fraud claim...not sure how laws differ exactly between the US and Canada...but generally we're pretty close. The guy could have a case...they'll never get the settlement he's asking for but it does meet requirements to be claimed fraud.