Fan sues Saints, wants refund over protests during national anthem

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...-wants-refund-player-protests-national-anthem

Fan sues Saints, wants refund over protests during national anthem

Spoiler: The Article

A season-ticket holder has sued the New Orleans Saints, requesting a refund of his ticket costs and attorneys' fees because of players who kneel before the national anthem at home games and sat during the anthem in a Week 3 road game.

The fan, Lee Dragna, claims in his lawsuit that he bought the tickets for the "entertainment and intellectual enjoyment" of himself and his family and that he never would have bought them if he had known that players would "use Saints football games as a platform for protests." The suit claims Dragna has not attended a Saints home game since Week 2.

The Saints declined to comment, saying they had turned the matter over to their legal department. However, a source said the organization is "taking this very seriously, and this fan best have his facts in order."

"The Saints will come back at this fan who has brought forth incorrect information in his statement with everything to defend the team, organization and players," the source said.

Saints running back Mark Ingram also took to Twitter to respond to the fan's lawsuit.

Ingram was one of 10 Saints players who sat on the bench during the national anthem at Carolina in Week 3 after President Donald Trump made derogatory statements toward players around the league, including Colin Kaepernick, who had been protesting racial inequality and police brutality by kneeling, sitting or raising fists, etc., during the national anthem.

After that week, Saints players decided to kneel before the anthem in a show of unity, then to all stand together during the anthem. That's what they have done before every game since Week 4, and no Saints player has ever kneeled during the anthem.

Many fans booed during the first home game when Saints players kneeled before the anthem. There were some audible boos at the next home game as well. But there has been no noticeable mass reaction from fans since then.

The lawsuit, which was first reported by the New Orleans Advocate, also claimed that some Saints players refused to take the field until after the national anthem in a Week 2 home game against the New England Patriots and that many fans booed and cursed at them when they entered the field, though there has never been any report of players staying behind in the locker room to protest during the anthem.

The lawsuit said players who refused to stand for the anthem in Week 3 were "apparently ... following the lead of Colin Kaepernick by disrespecting the flag, the Anthem, the USA and those who have served and are serving the USA in our military."

The lawsuit also accuses Saints owner Tom Benson and coach Sean Payton of publicly condoning the practice.

[My Question/Section] I'll try not to ask any questions about the merits of this lawsuit with regards to opinions about this case. I know this is a hot issue right now around the people of our nation have picked sides. I accept that people have picked sides. So my question is about ONLY the law and opinions based on prior rulings or written law that may affect this man's case. That being said, based on law [and I expect you to give reason based on something other than your personal feelings], what will be the likely outcome of this case?

Thank you for keeping your personal feelings/sentiments/fire out of the discussion. I'm very curious about this case and look forward to reading any answers that might be helpful.

 

I deleted the section that bears no weight here for me. I don't want to know about your opinions on the practice. However, what does "the even" mean in your sentence above? Also, can you back this up with any written law or court ruling history?

 

Please delete if possible. I'm honestly trying to keep to facts or opinions that show reason based on facts. So if what you said is true, and it might be, what is your basis for how courts will treat this? Here's reality, it's a court case. So public opinion is out here. We've moved onto judges now and the judge is asked to base opinion on law. I expect you to do the same or just not say anything.

I personally don't know much about the law, but if you do, please share. The law is available to the public for free, but that doesn't mean I've read or understand it. If you do, please educate the dummies like myself. If you only have an opinion that's personal, please state that it is your personal opinion, but I did ask people to leave personal opinions out of this thread.

 

Please delete if possible. I'm honestly trying to keep to facts or opinions that show reason based on facts. So if what you said is true, and it might be, what is your basis for how courts will treat this? Here's reality, it's a court case. So public opinion is out here. We've moved onto judges now and the judge is asked to base opinion on law. I expect you to do the same or just not say anything.

I personally don't know much about the law, but if you do, please share. The law is available to the public for free, but that doesn't mean I've read or understand it. If you do, please educate the dummies like myself. If you only have an opinion that's personal, please state that it is your personal opinion, but I did ask people to leave personal opinions out of this thread.

 

In a state that does allow recovery of legal fees on frivolous lawsuits, if the plaintiff represents themselves and the defendant spends money on lawyers to defend themselves, the judge may award the defendant for lawyer fees? If this is the case and the judge feels that the defendants are likely going to win based on evidence presented, would a kind/wise judge suggest that the plaintiff drop the suit considering the plaintiff may owe exorbitant fees to the defendant?

If this is indeed frivolous, I hope someone with knowledge of the law will help this fan.

 

It's preposterous based on?

@CometsWin based on your history of posting you're an intelligent person. I fully expect you to know that what you've said here has zero impact on the case study. Please highlight "case study" assuming that's the right term? I'm not disagreeing with your sentiment, but the courts don't have the option to deliver rule by simply saying "It's preposterous." even if it is. I'm literally just curious about the law and the situation the law can put this fan in because I felt like this was just an angry guy trying to get some kind of justice for his stance on a political statement made by players/owners/personnel.

 

come on man... why did you even type that? Clearly you have SOME time for it because you typed about it for at least a few seconds. For this thread, I don't care about your opinion based on a hot take. But I'm curious about the law regarding the case.

 

Why did I do this to myself? I should have just sent you a text message or email.