A California Court dismissed a class-action lawsuit filed by a group of caddies. According to their charge, they claimed that the PGA Tour had enacted a breach of contract as well as antitrust violations.
On February 9th, District Court Judge Vince Chhabria ruled that although there is merit to the overall complaint of the caddies about poor treatment by the Tour, there is no federal lawsuit about bibs. The judge was specific to pinpoint the vague language utilized by the Tour to address the dress code of the caddies that required them to wear a "bib."
According to the caddies, they were forced to wear these bibs without receiving any compensation. For the judge, the bib was simply a primary part of the 'uniform' that caddies were required to wear by the Tour. This is despite the different interpretations one may consider regarding the contract language. But if to interpret it reasonably, this was simply the context of the case.
A group of 168 caddies earlier filed the lawsuit in San Francisco last February. It originated from the Tour's unwillingness to participate in a settlement negotiation. The caddies claimed that the Tour required them to wear the logo-covered bibs without receiving compensation from contracts that their lawyers estimate at about $50 million yearly.
The judge related that for decades, caddies have been required to wear the bibs. Knowing this, caddies enter the profession with an idea that a bib is typically worn during tournaments and that is part of their job. Chhabria notes that this goes to show that there is no merit to the dispute of the caddies that the contracts have a way of preventing the Tour from having them wear these bibs. The judge also denied claims caddies made that the Tour had been in violation with their right of publicity and that they agreed to the circuit's terms of regulations under duress.
Ty Votaw, executive vice president of communications for the Tour shares that they have been made aware of the ruling made in their favor and are pleased with Chhabria's decision. They are also looking forward to putting the issue behind them and positively moving on with their caddies. An attorney for the caddies shared that he was "overly surprised." However, he shares that he was disappointed and would advise his clients to appeal. If they do decide to continue with their case, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in California would be handling the case. A scheduled caddie meeting has been set for Wednesday at Pebble Beach.
