Another US court has sided with Dr. Laila Mintas in her legal battle with PlayUp. The Australian sports betting company sought and received a temporary injunction against its former US CEO in late 2021, but the past two court decisions have favored Mintas.
The fracas began in 2021 when PlayUp alleged that Mintas’s actions directly caused the collapse of a potential acquisition by cryptocurrency firm FTX. A Nevada court granted the initial restraining order, but in the appeals process, Mintas has successfully argued her comments had no material impact on the outcome of the deal.
Just a few weeks later, a federal judge threw out the injunction. At the time, Judge Gloria Navarro cited evidence that Daniel Simic, the CEO of PlayUp Global, was the one who was more likely to blame for the deal falling through. Simic allegedly threw in additional parameters to the deal which led FTX to back out.
The US District Court affirmed this ruling. However, the court opinion did state the scope of the ruling applied only to the emergency injunction and is not a reflection of how this issue could be interpreted if it is ever taken to trial.
The injunction would have limited what Mintas could have publicly said or done regarding PlayUp while enabling PlayUp to speak freely about Mintas.
Since leaving PlayUp, Mintas has opened her own independent consulting firm, Dr. Mintas Consulting.
