Sanctions in MLB/Comcast/DirecTV Class-Action Settlement Fought
"No good deed goes unpunished," the good deed in this case being serving as local counsel and filing an objection to a proposed settlement in a class-action lawsuit against Comcast, DirecTV, Major League Baseball and some regional sports networks (see…
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1604120066), said David Stein of Samuel & Stein in opposition (in Pacer) Wednesday to a motion by plaintiffs seeking sanctions against him. Class counsel, upset with the initial objection, "decided to make an example" by seeking sanctions against Stein and his firm for a routine class-action objection similar to those filed by other objectors in the case, Stein said in the objection in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Stein said the objection, for Texas attorney Christopher Bandas, was done as a courtesy, and the firm subsequently moved to remove itself because it didn't have sufficient time to get up to speed for the April 25 fairness hearing at which the court approved the settlement. "Their argument boils down to 'Christopher Bandas is a professional objector; professional objectors are terrible; David Stein is associated with Christopher Bandas; therefore, David Stein is also terrible,'" Stein said, saying the objection itself "was not objectively unreasonable." The plaintiffs, in their motion (in Pacer) in April seeking sanctions, argued the Stein-filed objection -- by complaining about the failure to obtain damages for class members -- ignores that the class was certified for injunctive relief only; ignores that reducing attorneys' fees wouldn't benefit class members because the fee is separate from class relief; and "is being presented for improper purposes, including to harass, cause unnecessary delay, and needlessly to increase the cost of litigation." The settlement ended litigation brought in 2012 by various baseball fans against MLB, the multichannel video programming distributors and individual MLB teams, with the plaintiffs claiming MLB's deal with the MVPDs for distribution of games online and on TV was an "illegal cartel," stifling competition (see 1601210032).