The same law firm representing the plaintiffs in class action lawsuits against DraftKings and PrizePicks in California earlier this year has another fantasy sports case on its hands.
Plaintiff said FanDuel misled him about its legality
The Almeida Group, along with three other firms, has filed a lawsuit on behalf of California resident Gilbert Criswell, who alleges that the company is offering illegal sports betting in the state and has done so since 2015. Criswell said he opened a FanDuel account and, based on FanDuel’s assurances, believed what he was taking part in was legal. However, he claims he “did finally learn the true unlawful nature of the gambling websites’ operations” and, in turn, filed his suit.
The suit made mention of Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office issuing an opinion in July that all forms of daily fantasy sports are illegal in their eyes and claims that FanDuel fraudulently positions its fantasy sports products as legal in the state. The suit suggests that Criswell is not bound by the arbitration clause in the terms and conditions and that its misrepresentations about its legality complicate the statute of limitations around Criswell’s complaint.
DraftKings and PrizePicks fighting their suits
The claims filed against DraftKings and PrizePicks similarly claimed the fantasy products the companies were offering illegal gambling products. These suits were filed shortly before the issuance of the AG opinion. Both companies have filed motions to dismiss.
In DraftKings’ motion, the company explicitly pointed out that the Bonta opinion does nothing to change the letter of the law.
While DraftKings’ DFS contests are legal, and there is no authority to the contrary, the Court need not reach that issue because of the many threshold issues – standing, the public polidoctrine, lack of jurisdiction, and statute of limitations – that make clear Plaintiffs’ claims all fail out of the gate.”
The two motions are not identical but raise several of the same points, including that historically California courts have not considered gambling-related claims.
The Almeida Group is staying busy in terms of gaming-adjacent case loads, as the firm also filed a suit against Kalshi in the Southern District of New York alleging that the companies sports-related event contracts are illegal gambling.
