Shaw v. Wizards of The Coast
Shaw et al. v. Wizards of The Coast, LLC was a class-action lawsuit filed in April 2016 against Wizards of the Coast, claiming that Magic judges were essentially Wizards employees, deserving benefits and terms of employment. Wizards denied the charges and settled in 2018, ultimately paying $21,250, split between 20 plaintiffs.
Claims
Adam Shaw, along with fellow judges Peter Golightly, Justin Turner, Joshua Stansfield, and a putative class of unnamed additional individuals sought to recover unpaid wages that they claimed were owed for their work judging tournaments.[1]
In the previous year, another judge, Paul Yale, had filed suit for similar claims (Paul Yale v. Wizards of the Coast LLC[2]), but his case received less notice. Yale's case was dismissed in 2017, with leave to amend.[3]
WotC called both these lawsuits meritless.[4][5]
Outcome
Shaw et al. claimed damages exceeding $5M.[6] After three years of litigation, Shaw and Yale were jointly settled in December 2018. The plaintiffs received a total settlement of $21,250, with each of the original five named plaintiffs receiving $2,500. Fifteen other plaintiffs who joined the case later received $500, and the remainder went to attorneys' fees.[7][8]
The following year, the Judge Program was outsourced to the Judge Academy.
External links
References
- ↑ ICv2 (April 22, 2016). "Are 'Magic' Judges Employees?"
- ↑ Yale v. Wizards of the Coast LLC. CourtListener (Dec 31, 2015).
- ↑ Cyrus Farivar (Aug 24, 2017). "Judge tosses case brought by Magic: the Gathering judge who wants to be paid". Ars Technica.
- ↑ Helene Bergeot (April 20, 2016). "A Message to the Magic Community". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on October 6, 2022.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (April 20, 2016). "Wizards Responds to Lawsuits". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on August 1, 2022.
- ↑ Jonathan Lurie (May 2, 2016). "Judges Judging Judges: Will a Court Rule Magic the Gathering Judges are Employees?". LegalMatch.
- ↑ Joint Motion for Settlement. CourtListener (Oct 15, 2018).
- ↑ Order granting Motion for Settlement. CourtListener (Dec 6, 2018).