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Message
Washington files motion to dismiss Wazzu/Oregon St Pac 12 lawsuit
Posted on 10/9/23 at 6:10 pm
Posted on 10/9/23 at 6:10 pm
quote:
On Monday, UW filed a motion to intervene in the litigation between Washington State and Oregon State and the Pac-12 conference, arguing that it is involved in the lawsuit but its interests are not adequately represented by any existing party.
If granted, UW would then ask Whitman County (Wash.) Superior Court to grant a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
Monday’s news comes in response to the temporary restraining order granted to Oregon State and Washington State last month that prevented the Pac-12 from holding board of directors meetings. The conference can conduct normal business but cannot meet as a board without court approval.
Oregon State and Washington State are seeking an injunction to block what they believe is an attempt by commissioner George Kliavkoff and the 10 departing schools to make governance decisions that affect their futures. Both schools have said they want to explore ways in which they could rebuild the Pac-12 by taking control of their assets and the brand.
The nine outgoing schools made similar arguments as Washington did in their filing Monday, arguing that they are directly impacted by the lawsuit but are not parties to it because they are out-of-state institutions and because most are also covered by state sovereign immunity defenses.
UW and the other nine schools believe that Washington State and Oregon State are interpreting the Pac-12 bylaws incorrectly and that there is nothing in the bylaws that prevents a member from leaving the conference after its current media rights deals expire. The brief filed on behalf of the nine schools states that “A member breaches its obligations … only if it delivers a notice that it will actually withdraw before August 1, 2024. None of the 10 schools that WSU and OSU seek to expel from the Board have delivered such a notice, because none of them will withdraw before August 1, 2024.”
A lawyer representing Oregon State and Washington State argued at the Sept. 11 hearing that eight schools — Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Stanford and California — forfeited their right to be on the Pac-12 board when they announced their intentions to join other conferences next year. USC and UCLA were stripped of voting rights by the Pac-12 in the summer of 2022 when they decided to join the Big Ten. The two schools are arguing that their peers announcing they’re joining new conferences is equivalent to giving the Pac-12 its formal notice, a contention that has been disputed by the departing schools.
As part of UW’s motion to intervene, it attached its reasoning for its motion to dismiss. The argument is three-fold: 1) that the Court should defer to the members of a voluntary association regarding interpretation of their own bylaws; 2) that the Court lacks statutory authority to issue the relief without all affected parties present; and 3) that WSU and OSU cannot join all indispensable parties to the lawsuit. UW also argued that the WSU/OSU motion for a preliminary injunction should be denied because they are interpreting Pac-12 bylaws incorrectly.
The Court ruled that UW may file that motion to dismiss and notice it for hearing on Nov. 14.
LINK
This post was edited on 10/9/23 at 6:11 pm
8
Posted on 10/9/23 at 6:21 pm to Dr RC
Pretty sure Wazzu and Oregon St are interpreting this correctly…
USC and UCLA lost their votes the second they bolted and everyone else went on with business.
As other teams bolted, they lost their votes too. They HAVE, in fact, made their intention to leave very clear.
So at this point, the only two voting members should be Oregon St and Wazzu.
USC and UCLA lost their votes the second they bolted and everyone else went on with business.
As other teams bolted, they lost their votes too. They HAVE, in fact, made their intention to leave very clear.
So at this point, the only two voting members should be Oregon St and Wazzu.
Posted on 10/9/23 at 6:24 pm to Dr RC
quote:
The two schools are arguing that their peers announcing they’re joining new conferences is equivalent to giving the Pac-12 its formal notice, a contention that has been disputed by the departing schools.
I understand that lawyers have a duty to zealously advocate of the benefit of their clients, but this throw shite at a wall and hope something sticks tactic crosses the bounds of ethics.
Posted on 10/9/23 at 6:30 pm to Dr RC
Washington, along with the other PAC-12 schools, moved to prevent USC and UCLA from making conference decisions when those two schools announced their decision to join the Big 10.
Colorado was added to the banned list when they announced their move to the Big 12.
The PAC-12 has bylaws specifically stating that schools that announce they are leaving the conference prior to August 2024 are banned from conference decisions.
Now that only two schools are remaining in the PAC-12 (OSU and WSU), the other 10 schools want to band together against those two schools in order to exert control over the conference, the commissioner, and the millions in reserve funds.
For example: Oregon, Washington, Stanford, and Cal aren’t receiving full shares from their new conferences, but are facing huge travel costs and transition expenses over the next few years.
They want to tap into that PAC-12 reserve fund to alleviate some of those expenses. Wazzu and Oregon Stare are rightfully calling them out and exercising the clauses to prevent schoools that are leaving the conference from raiding it and stripping it for all its worth.
Colorado was added to the banned list when they announced their move to the Big 12.
The PAC-12 has bylaws specifically stating that schools that announce they are leaving the conference prior to August 2024 are banned from conference decisions.
Now that only two schools are remaining in the PAC-12 (OSU and WSU), the other 10 schools want to band together against those two schools in order to exert control over the conference, the commissioner, and the millions in reserve funds.
For example: Oregon, Washington, Stanford, and Cal aren’t receiving full shares from their new conferences, but are facing huge travel costs and transition expenses over the next few years.
They want to tap into that PAC-12 reserve fund to alleviate some of those expenses. Wazzu and Oregon Stare are rightfully calling them out and exercising the clauses to prevent schoools that are leaving the conference from raiding it and stripping it for all its worth.
Posted on 10/9/23 at 6:41 pm to Ghost of Colby
IMHO, this suit by them just emphasizes what the other schools were attempting to do.
Posted on 10/9/23 at 6:45 pm to Dr RC
I hope Wazzu and ORST get everything. Every last dime
Posted on 10/9/23 at 6:46 pm to blackandgolddude
And I hope they find ways to frick some of these schools over on their way out, mainly Stanford and Cal who were big reasons for this mess long term.
Posted on 10/9/23 at 7:25 pm to teke184
quote:
Pretty sure Wazzu and Oregon St are interpreting this correctly… .
No, they are not. All 12 will participate in PAC-12 athletics through the ‘23-‘24 academic calendar. WSU and OSU are arguing that they get all the money generated in this period by the 12 teams. Nobody is leaving prior to 8/1/2024. They are clearly in the wrong, especially since a vast majority of the original signatories understand the contract language unlike the two retard universities without law schools.
Posted on 10/9/23 at 7:29 pm to blackandgolddude
quote:
hope Wazzu and ORST get everything. Every last dime
If they steal that money away, they are Big Sky bound. No major conference would take them and the 10 they stole from, which happen to be all the great western USA athletic programs sans BYU, will never play them again in any sport.
Posted on 10/9/23 at 8:12 pm to Snoop Dawg
Mountain West would take them both in a heartbeat. WSU and OSU aren’t stealing anything. The other schools are voluntarily leaving the conference. No other conferences with schools that left gave the exiting school their share of the conference’s reserve funds.
The other major conferences aren’t adding them because they’re little brother programs in their own states and are thousands of miles outside those conferences’ existing footprints.
ETA: the only reason OSU and WSU haven’t jumped to the MWC is because the PAC-12 brand is more valuable than the MWC and if they leave the PAC-12, the conference dissolves and the reserve funds get split between all the schools leaving
The other major conferences aren’t adding them because they’re little brother programs in their own states and are thousands of miles outside those conferences’ existing footprints.
ETA: the only reason OSU and WSU haven’t jumped to the MWC is because the PAC-12 brand is more valuable than the MWC and if they leave the PAC-12, the conference dissolves and the reserve funds get split between all the schools leaving
This post was edited on 10/9/23 at 8:15 pm
Posted on 10/9/23 at 8:59 pm to Ghost of Colby
quote:
They want to tap into that PAC-12 reserve fund to alleviate some of those expenses. Wazzu and Oregon Stare are rightfully calling them out and exercising the clauses to prevent schoools that are leaving the conference from raiding it and stripping it for all its worth.
I hope they beat them by pounding them into the dust.
Posted on 10/9/23 at 9:10 pm to Ghost of Colby
quote:
The PAC-12 has bylaws specifically stating that schools that announce they are leaving the conference prior to August 2024 are banned from conference decisions.
This is very clear in their own bylaws. The other 10 schools are in pure desperation mode at this point.
Posted on 10/9/23 at 9:28 pm to Ghost of Colby
quote:
The PAC-12 has bylaws specifically stating that schools that announce they are leaving the conference prior to August 2024 are banned from conference decisions.
No. Quote the language if you disagree. Schools have bowed out of respect. The contract language they are arguing over is a few sentences, which in viewed of the entire agreement represent fulfilling an agreement through 8/1/2024, which all 12 are set to do. WSU and OSU are grasping at straws. Even WSU President admitted as much before being conned out by some shiesty east coast lawyer trying to play legal jujitsu with contract language. I guarantee none of the team have “delivered” their intention to leave prior to 8/1/2024 as the agreement states. Their verbal, not officially authorized signed and delivered official statements to withdrawal after 8/1/2024, intentions post fulfillment of agreement do not constitute prematurely exiting said agreement as none are.
Posted on 10/9/23 at 9:33 pm to Vandyrone
quote:
This is very clear in their own bylaws. The other 10 schools are in pure desperation mode at this point.
False. If you disagree, show me the contract language. They are arguing about “delivery” of notice clause. WSU and OSU are saying the other 10 can’t announce any future intention beyond 8/1/2024, or are violating agreement. The other 10 are saying we intend to honor existing agreement through 8/1/2024. No one is leaving prior to 8/1/2024, so agreement fulfilled.
Posted on 10/9/23 at 9:37 pm to Snoop Dawg
For you armchair billboards:
Withdrawal. No member shall deliver a notice of withdrawal to the Conference in the period beginning on July 24, 2011, and ending on August 1, 2024; provided, that if any member does deliver a notice of withdrawal prior to August 1, 2024, in violation of this chapter, the Conference shall be entitled to an injunction and other equitable relief to prevent such breach, and if a court of competent jurisdiction shall deny the Conference such injunctive relief, the Conference shall be entitled to retain all the media and sponsorship rights in the multi-player video distribution (MPVD) and telecommunications/wireless categories of the member purporting to withdraw through August 1, 2024, even if the member is then a member of another conference or an independent school for some or all intercollegiate sports competitions. Additionally, if a member delivers notice of withdrawal in violation of this chapter, the member’s representative to the CEO Group shall automatically cease to be a member of the CEO Group and shall cease to have the right to vote on any matter before the CEO Group. Dissolution. In the event of the dissolution or final liquidation of the Conference, all of the remaining assets and property of the Conference shall, after paying or making provision for the payment of all of the liabilities and obligations of the Conference and for necessary expenses thereof, be distributed to the members of the Conference so long as they are then qualified as a tax-exempt organization under Code Section 501(c)(3), or to such organization or organizations organized and operated exclusively for charitable or educational purposes as shall at the time qualify as an exempt organization or organizations under Code Section 501(c)(3) as the CEO Group shall determine. In no event shall any of the assets or property be distributed to any director or officer, or any private individual.
Withdrawal. No member shall deliver a notice of withdrawal to the Conference in the period beginning on July 24, 2011, and ending on August 1, 2024; provided, that if any member does deliver a notice of withdrawal prior to August 1, 2024, in violation of this chapter, the Conference shall be entitled to an injunction and other equitable relief to prevent such breach, and if a court of competent jurisdiction shall deny the Conference such injunctive relief, the Conference shall be entitled to retain all the media and sponsorship rights in the multi-player video distribution (MPVD) and telecommunications/wireless categories of the member purporting to withdraw through August 1, 2024, even if the member is then a member of another conference or an independent school for some or all intercollegiate sports competitions. Additionally, if a member delivers notice of withdrawal in violation of this chapter, the member’s representative to the CEO Group shall automatically cease to be a member of the CEO Group and shall cease to have the right to vote on any matter before the CEO Group. Dissolution. In the event of the dissolution or final liquidation of the Conference, all of the remaining assets and property of the Conference shall, after paying or making provision for the payment of all of the liabilities and obligations of the Conference and for necessary expenses thereof, be distributed to the members of the Conference so long as they are then qualified as a tax-exempt organization under Code Section 501(c)(3), or to such organization or organizations organized and operated exclusively for charitable or educational purposes as shall at the time qualify as an exempt organization or organizations under Code Section 501(c)(3) as the CEO Group shall determine. In no event shall any of the assets or property be distributed to any director or officer, or any private individual.
Posted on 10/10/23 at 8:40 am to Dr RC
I haven’t read the actual PAC 12 agreement, so I don’t know who’s right. But, I will laugh my arse off if Wazzou and O-State gets to call the shots on revenue. 
Posted on 10/10/23 at 8:46 am to Snoop Dawg
I can’t fathom how you can think Washington, Oregon, etc. are actually the good guys in all of this
Posted on 10/10/23 at 8:47 am to Dr RC
WSU should counter sue Washington
Posted on 10/10/23 at 9:41 am to nicholastiger
If you would have read the article, you’d understand that WSU filed the lawsuit originally and UW (and the others through amicus briefing) is seeking to intervene. You don’t sue and countersue about the same thing.
Posted on 10/10/23 at 8:05 pm to Snoop Dawg
quote:
Snoop Dawg
Imagine being this guy defending a school doing the unspeakable to their instate counterparts, and thinking they should get paid to do it.
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