 |
| The Supreme Court has given Bakers owner QCurl Sharif the green light to pursue his lawsuit against Mojo D and the Ballers aimed at overturning their 2019 title. |
By Ariel Mutha-Tafoya
FSN Sports
In its last major decision of the 2019-20 term, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that NFFA team owner Mojo D must hand over records related to the number of hours performed by his research staff at the team’s so-called Shirt Factory.
In the case of Sharif v. Pie Town Football Club, the justices ruled 7-2 to uphold a lower court ruling by Judge Natalie Morningstar, who found that access to the records was material to Sharif’s lawsuit alleging that the Ballers had violated the league’s long-standing “160-hour” rule, which mandates that league owners and team staff must spend a minimum of eight hours per week away from fantasy football research and transactions. Sharif’s original suit, which followed widespread rumors that researchers in the Shirt Factory were continuously dosed with Adderall and other substances so they could go days on end without sleep, sought to have last season’s NFFA results — which culminated in a championship for the Ballers — declared void for “lack of integrity.”
The High Court’s ruling also means that Sharif’s suit can continue.
Writing for the majority, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that, “No person is above the law, even in an outlaw league.” In a separate, concurring opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts quoted Bob Dylan: “To live outside the law, you must be honest. We find disturbing evidence this may not be the case here.” In a strongly worded dissent, joined by Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Clarence Thomas declared, “Sharif is a traitor to my benevolent master, Donald J. Trump, and a skedaddler to boot. Thus, he has no standing to bring a case in this court or any U.S. court of law.”
The Justice Department, which had argued that the Trump Administration should not be required to hand over Trump’s financial records to a grand jury, filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case on Mojo D’s behalf.
Reached by phone from London, Sharif said, “Today’s landmark decision was not just a victory for the Bakers and their fans, but for all fans of integrity, honor and justice. It is also a well-deserved victory for Natalie, er, Judge Morningstar, and for all sweatshop workers everywhere. Jeff Bezos and Phil Knight, take note and get on the right side of the moral universe.”
Mojo D could not be reached for comment. However, a source at the Club Gitmo Sports Book stated that the Pie Town owner, who was granted temporary asylum at the club last month, received a large transfer payment in Bitcoin this afternoon after placing a wager that the Supreme Court would rule against him.
