A new lawsuit filed in the Northern California District Court is throwing allegations at sweepstakes operator VGW as well as a host of others in a 129-page suit that seems to throw in every legal angle imaginable to challenge the legality of the company’s portfolio of sites, which includes Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Casino and Global Poker.
The lawsuit is a class action with a range of plaintiffs from a number of different states. It was initially filed in Montana District Court but the plaintiffs voluntariy dismissed it earlier this month.
Defendants include Trustly, Brian Christopher
While the original suit only named VGW as a defendant, the new filing tacks on a number of suppliers and a famous face to the charges in addition to VGW. The suit includes KYC solution Jumio, payments companies Trustly and Yodlee and slots influncer Brian Christopher.
Many of the lawsuits against sweepstakes operators get sent straight to arbitration because the plaintiffs are former customers who agreed to binding arbitration. This suit, however, is being filed by spouses of VGW customers who share bank accounts with players but never agreed to the terms of the sites.
The lawsuit is seeking damages on behalf of the spouses citing loss recovery acts that are enacted in certain states which allow secondary parties to recoup gambling losses.
The suit argues Northern California is the appropriate venue for the suit even though VGW traditionally asks to litigate these cases in Delaware where the company is incorporated.
In court documents, the plaintiffs note that a number of VGW employees are based in San Francisco, including VGW US General Manager Derek Brinkman.
One employee named in the suit who is not based in San Francisco though is CEO Laurence Escalante.
Suit combines numerous arguments and angles into one
As for the suppliers and influencers, naming them in a suit like this is not a novel concept. One that names WorldPay in addition to VGW was filed in Florida initially and currently sits in Delaware District Court. There is another active lawsuit in New Jersey leveling RICO charges at Google and Apple for using their app stores and payment solutions to faciliate gambling on sweepstakes sites.
Brian Christopher has previously not been named in a case such as this but another California suit attempted to include VGW spokesperson Ryan Seacrest. That lawsuit has since been voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiff.
This lawsuit spent several pages focused on Seacrest’s involvement with VGW but does not name him as a plaintiff. Instead, it names Christopher, who has an existing business relationship with Chumba Casino, including playing on and promoting Chumba Casino games on his BC Spins YouTube channel.
The law firm representing the plaintiff is a powerhouse. Susman Godfrey is a firm with a national reputation and plenty of experience taking on major companies on behalf of class action plaintiffs. The firm represented NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers that sued the NFL and initially obtained a $4.7 billion ruling in their favor before a judge overturned the result.
