Local legal eagles, their ears aflame with anger vented from Williams Fund members who feel cheated by the ticket scandal, are circling, looking for prey that could lead to a class-action lawsuit.
One attorney — call him Barry the Barrister — whispered how season-ticket holders could be grouped together.
“They all were giving money to one thing thinking it was going to get them something, and what they got was less than what they thought they were getting,” Barry the Barrister told me. “For example, people go to select-a-seat, they’re No. 50 on the list, they walk in, and the first 400 seats are taken. How’s that possible?”
The grounds for this potential class-action lawsuit?
“Breach of contract, fraud and Kansas Consumer Protection violations,” Barry the Barrister said.
What Kansas Consumer Protection violations?
“Deceptive trade practices,” he said.
It all sounds like a reach. Six people in a ticket office cook the books, steal some tickets, and the university is going to be held responsible for their actions? What will it take to make this notion of a class-action suit seem more realistic?
“If KU Athletics, Inc., had knowledge this was going on and did nothing,” he said. “That’s the critical point.”
How can that be proven?
“If Mabel out in western Kansas got ticked off and wrote a letter and told them, ‘I give this much, and I’m sitting behind someone I know isn’t giving anything,'” he said. “If Mabel kept a carbon of that letter. Find that letter, and that’s proof that Mabel put them on notice that this stuff was going on, and a reasonable person would have investigated further.”
If a number of Mabels and Orvilles, Toms, Dicks and Harrys supply evidence that they came forward and notified the athletic department of their suspicions, athletic administrators could have to answer a number of questions under oath.
“So when Mabel sent you that letter, what did you do? Nothing. OK. And when this person told you that he suspected that went on, what did you do? Nothing. OK. And when that person … “
Donations to the Williams Fund aren’t exclusively for tickets, which is one of the factors that would make it tough to determine how badly someone was cheated by some of the best tickets being sold. How can a value be placed on moving back X number of rows?
“The difficult part will be proving the damages, difficult to come to a number,” Barry the Barrister whispered from the shadows.
The athletic department’s lawyer could question one of the customers taking part in the lawsuit in this manner: “So you give $50,000. Can you see the game from where you sit? Yes. Are your seats better than they were before you gave $50,000? Yes.”
Good thing those scalpers outside game venues were run off. Those annoying gnats were cutting into Rodney Jones’ profits.
From gnats to rats: Before Dave Freeman squeals on me, let me confess: I was going 45 in a 30 zone Thursday. Since I ratted on myself, will that ease my fine? The legal eagle flew before answering. Oh look, there he circles.
