A former professional golfer is suing a charity event for failing to award her with a Mercedes Benz after she emerged the winner at an amateur tournament.
Linda Chen sued Timothy Galvin, his organization Tournament Golf Events and Ace Hole In One along with Mercedes-Benz of South Orlando on Aug. 23 in the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Orange County, Florida.
“Defendants acting jointly, severally, and in concert with each other are guilty of unfair and deceptive acts, unconscionable acts, and unfair and deceptive trade practices in their actions towards plaintiff,” Chen’s attorney Dylan Hopper wrote in the complaint.
Chen wants the court to award her the Mercedes E Class, or its value of $90,000. Hopper did not respond to requests for comment.
“The question in these cases is always whether the rules made very clear about who could and could not participate and was there an intake form,” said Bob Jarvis, professor of sports law at the Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law. “If so, did the plaintiff lie about their previous experience? What, if anything, did the tournament do to publicize their rules and to ensure people were not being allowed to participate who were not eligible?”
The Isleworth Golf & Country Club in Central Florida hosted the Fins on the Fairway fundraiser on May 22, and proceeds were earmarked for Nova Southeastern University Orlando.
"These are three-party lawsuits," Jarvis said in an interview. "It's the person who organized the tournament, the person who won and the third party is the runner up who lost to a person who is potentially not eligible and therefore the only fair thing to do is to make the tournament organizer give away two Mercedes if it's found that the organized waived their rules."
As previously reported by Fox News, Chen’s background as a former professional golfer allegedly prevented her eligibility to win the car and that she signed a statement of rules which said qualification for the prized was open only to amateurs.
“It also comes down to whether the organizer charged money to play in the tournament because if they charged money, the argument that there was a binding contract and that part of that binding contract was that no professionals or former professionals would be allowed to participate becomes stronger for the runner up,” Jarvis told the Florida Record.
But Chen’s complaint states that her time as a professional golfer was limited to two years, from 1994 to 1996, and that the U.S. Golf Association lists her as an amateur.
“There is joint responsibility on the part of the tournament organizer and the plaintiff,” Jarvis added. “The organizer had a duty to make their rules clear and readily available but the major responsibility is on the player. The contestant has to make sure they, in fact, are eligible because if you don't know the rules going in, you can't later say you didn't know the rules.”
Galvin did not respond to requests for comment.