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Janet Abaray Spearheads Class Action Suit Against Bengals

Janet Abaray and Calvin Tregre are representing Club Seat season ticket owners in a class action lawsuit against the Cincinnati Bengals. The class is filed on behalf of club seat owners who purchased their seat licenses based upon the language in the original “First Fans” brochure, issued prior to the opening of Paul Brown Stadium in 2000.

Under the terms of the First Fan brochure, fans could purchase a six, eight or ten year club seat license for $150 each, which entitled them to purchase club seat season tickets at a guaranteed price for the term selected.  Club seat season tickets ranged from $1,250 to $2,600 per seat. Failure to purchase season tickets would result in the forfeiture of the club seat license, but there was no other penalty for cancellation.

The Bengals sought to compel club seat holders to continue buying season tickets for the entire term, even sending some club seat owners letters threatening court action to recover tens of thousands of dollars. Burg Simpson successfully argued before the Ohio courts that club seat owners who purchased based upon the First Fans brochure have the right to cancel if they so choose, with no penalty other than losing the $150 license fee,

The Court of Appeals has permitted at least 127 season tickets holders to proceed as a class to determine damages they suffered upon receipt of threatening letters from the Bengals. But the Bengals continue to oppose class certification and have sought review by the Ohio Supreme Court. Burg Simpson believes many other club seat season ticket holders received coercive telephone calls and letters from the Bengals, and therefore have filed a cross petition with the Ohio Supreme Court to request that the definition of the class be expanded to include all club seat license holders contacted by the Bengals in order to force them to continue buying club seat season tickets.

During the Bengals first season in Paul Brown Stadium, Janet Abaray and Calvin Tregre successfully represented general admission seat license holders in a separate class action. That case involved failure by the Bengals to assign seats to the license holders in the stadium zone that they had purchased, and resulted in cash refunds, seat reassignments or cancellation rights for general admission seat license holders throughout the entire stadium.

"Seat holders keep fighting
– Suit still unresolved as ticket-buying deadline looms"
By Kimball Perry
(Cincinatti Enquirer, November 30, 2008)

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Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh & Jardine, P.C. is a law firm serving the Rocky Mountain Region. The firm has offices in Denver, Colorado, Cody, WY, Cincinnati, Ohio, & Phoenix, AZ. The Firm is responsible for the content on the website,this information is not to be interpreted as providing legal services,
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