By: Rob Harris
As recently discussed, New York Judge Eileen Bransten has determined that Vijay Singh’s suit against the PGA Tour can proceed to trial, holding that there are disputed issues of fact as to whether the Tour acted in good faith in failing to conduct an “appropriate investigation” before suspending Vijay for use of deer antler spray and by “improperly” making pulic statements about his use. Under the court’s ruling denying the Tour’s motion for summary judgment, Vijay should be on his way to presenting evidence regarding these issues to a jury.
The Tour, however, is trying to derail–or at least postpone–a jury trial. The Tour has taken the unusual step of appealing Judge Bransten’s decision. The appeal is unusual in that Judge Bransten’s denial of the Tour’s motion for summary judgment is not a “final” order that typically is subject to appeal. The issues raised by the Tour in its unsuccessful motion are ones that would be subject to appeal after the trial–if the Tour loses–not now.
By filing an appeal now, the Tour hopes for one of two things. It may hope to convince the appellate court that the issues were wrongly decided by Judge Bransten and are of such significance that the appellate court should step in to prevent the public spectacle of the trial. Alternatively, the Tour may be hoping to delay matters long enough to better position itself to negotiate a settlement with Vijay.
For its part, Vijay’s attorneys wasted little time in responding. They have taken the step of writing directly to Judge Bransten, reminding her that the act of filing an appeal does not automatically bring the proceedings in her court to a halt. Offering their view that “both because the TOUR’s appeal has little chance of success and because this lawsuit has been pending for so long, that the matter should not be sidetracked by the TOUR’s action today,” they have asked Judge Bransten to schedule a conference to set a trial date.
It’s getting to be crunch time. Especially if the appellate court rejects the Tour’s entreaty to accelerate the appeal, the parties will need to decide whether settlement is more sensible than the spectacle of trial.