DNA Sports Performance Lab, Inc. v. Major League Baseball
- William Alsup
- 3:20-cv-00546
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 3
In DNA Sports Performance Lab v. Major League Baseball, Judge Alsup ordered Neiman Nix to provide a sworn financial accounting while considering payments toward sanctions.
Neiman Nix must provide the sworn accounting and supporting documents; Major League Baseball, the Major League Baseball Players Association, and related defendants may use the information to seek payments toward the outstanding sanction.
What happened
DNA Sports Performance Lab v. Major League Baseball concerns defendants’ request for updated financial information from Neiman Nix after the court imposed monetary sanctions and attorney’s fees against him. The opinion states that the sanctions and fees totaled $137,446.25 and that Nix had not paid them.
The league and union argued that Nix’s earlier accounting lacked detail and that his spending on other lawsuits suggested he could pay some of the sanctions. Nix repeated arguments about the underlying dispute and argued that the request was premature, that confidential information had been filed publicly, and that he had not received proper notice. The court rejected those arguments for purposes of this request.
Judge William Alsup ordered Nix to provide the league and union, by August 22, 2022, a detailed sworn statement listing all funds he obtained from every source since June 24, 2021, along with supporting documents. The court said it would consider an appropriate monthly payment after reviewing the accounting, reiterated that the sanction remained in effect, and recommended that Nix’s other litigation against the defendants be stayed if they properly sought that relief in those courts.
The detailed version
- DNA Sports Performance Lab, Inc. v. Major League Baseball · No. 3:20-cv-00546
- William Alsup
- July 25, 2022
Background
Defendants—including Major League Baseball, the Major League Baseball Players Association, and related entities—asked the court to require plaintiff Neiman Nix to provide a further sworn accounting of all funds he had obtained from any source since June 24, 2021. They also requested an order requiring him to explain why he should not make fixed monthly payments toward his outstanding monetary sanction.
The opinion states that an October 2021 order sanctioned Nix and awarded the league and union $137,446.25 in attorney’s fees. It further states that Nix did not pay and that a February 2021 order held him in civil contempt and found his attorneys jointly liable for the fine. The court later granted the league and union’s request to declare Nix a vexatious litigant—a person subject to special restrictions because of abusive or repetitive litigation—and required him to submit an accounting under oath covering funds obtained from any source since June 24, 2021.
Arguments and analysis
The court found that Nix’s earlier accounting provided little detail. It also said that his payment of costs to continue other lawsuits against the league and union undermined the conclusion that he could not pay the sanctions in this case.
Nix argued that the request was premature because an appeal of the October 2021 sanctions order remained pending. The court concluded that it could consider the request because no stay of the sanctions order had been entered. Nix also objected that the defendants had publicly filed confidential information and claimed that he had not been properly served or notified. The court said the confidentiality issue was not relevant to this request and that Nix could file a separate motion to seal. It found that the defendants had provided evidence of service and notification and that Nix had an adequate opportunity to be heard because he filed an opposition and appeared at the hearing.
Ruling
Judge William Alsup ordered Nix to provide the league and union, by August 22, 2022, with a sworn, detailed statement itemizing all funds obtained from all sources since June 24, 2021. He also had to provide copies of related documents, which could be lodged conditionally under seal while he followed the local procedures for requesting confidential treatment.
The court did not set a monthly payment amount at that time. Instead, it said that, after reviewing the accounting and considering the nature of Nix’s finances, it would consider an appropriate monthly payment. The court reiterated that the monetary sanction remained in effect. It also recommended that Nix’s other litigation against the defendants be stayed until he paid what he owed, except for defense motions to dismiss or to declare him a vexatious litigant. The defendants would need to file proper motions in the other courts to obtain that relief.
Disposition
The order requires the further sworn accounting and leaves any monthly payment for later consideration. It does not state that a separate motion to seal would be granted or denied.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.