Washington D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine announced a lawsuit against the Washington Commanders for cheating season ticket holders out of deposit money that should have been returned. The lawsuit is the second Racine’s office has filed against Pro Football Inc., the company that operates the NFL franchise, in two weeks – the other related to allegations that team owner Dan Snyder, the league, and its commissioner colluded to deceive residents about an investigation into a toxic work environment and sexual assault allegations.
“Today’s announcement follows our recent lawsuit against the Commanders, Dan Snyder, NFL, and Roger Goodell, and is yet another example of egregious mismanagement and illegal conduct by Commanders executives who seem determined to lie, cheat, and steal from District residents in as many ways as possible,” said AG Racine. “The Commanders’ arrogance and blatant disregard for the law is a slap in the face to District residents who have supported the team for decades. We deserve better, and today my office is taking action yet again to hold them accountable.”
In the lawsuit, the office of the Attorney General alleges that since 1996, deposits that should have been returned to season ticket members at the expiration of their contract have instead been held on to by the team, sometimes for as long as a decade. Even when consumers demanded their money be returned, the organization allegedly “intentionally complicated” the return process by imposing additional conditions that were not in the original contracts. Because of these policies, which a team official alerted management in 2009 were in violation of the terms of the contracts the team had with its season ticket members, the team allegedly illegally withheld hundreds of thousands of dollars from consumers.
The OAG is seeking a court order to force the policies be changed, and the money be paid back, as well as financial penalties be levied against the organization for the scheme.
Washington has not commented on the lawsuit as of Friday morning.
The legal complaint is available in its entirety here: https://oag.dc.gov/sites/default/files/2022-11/2022-11-10-Commanders-Complaint-Fact-Sheet-.pdf