An amicus brief filed by 12 state attorneys general calls on the North Carolina Supreme Court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) that attempts to block Florida State University from leaving the athletics association.
The brief was filed Nov. 21 by attorneys general in Florida and 11 other states in an effort to assert their constitutional right not to be sued in other states’ courts without their expressed consent. The amicus petition was submitted in the wake of a Mecklenburg County, N.C., court decision that concluded the North Carolina-based ACC could sue FSU in the North Carolina court system. That court held the university had waived its sovereign immunity from such lawsuits when it became an ACC member, since North Carolina law allows a nonprofit group to assert claims against its members.
The litigation stems from efforts by FSU to leave the conference due to disagreements over the ACC’s holding of sports media rights for FSU football games. The ACC argues that FSU would be legally bound to pay the conference hundreds of millions of dollars in order to pull out of the conference.
“The amici states have an interest in preserving the rights secured to them and their constituent institutions by the U.S. Constitution, including the immunity of their public universities from suit in other states’ courts without the amici states’ clear and unequivocal consent,” the brief states.
The ACC initially filed a lawsuit in Mecklenburg County seeking a judgment that the “grant of rights” contract the conference signed with FSU transferred ownership of all of the university’s sports media rights to the ACC through 2036. The conference also sought an injunction barring FSU from ever challenging the contract, as well as $5 million in damages for the university’s actions.
The FSU, meanwhile, filed suit in Florida courts to allow it to leave the conference, arguing in part that the ACC has mismanaged its media revenues from university football games, putting FSU at a competitive disadvantage, and that the exit fees ACC is trying to impose are excessive.
The amicus brief argues that a 2019 U.S. Supreme Court case solidified the right of states not to be forced to become parties to litigation in other states unless a state’s consent has been “unequivocally expressed.”
Kevin Paule, a Tampa attorney with expertise in business disputes, said the filing of the amicus brief demonstrates that the ACC litigation has a wide-ranging impact in multiple states.
“Even though most of these states have no connection to the lawsuit or the ACC, the states have an interest in preventing their public institutions from being sued in other jurisdictions,” Paule told the Florida Record in an email. “If the argument is successful, this litigation will have to play out in the ‘home state’ of member schools.”
Such an outcome may cause other conferences to provide more detailed language about lawsuit venues in future contracts with member schools, he said.
“One possible workaround that conferences and other related entities that contract with public universities should consider is to include express forum selection clauses in governing documents that spell out where future suits are to be litigated,” Paule said.
Earlier this year, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody took action to obtain the text of media contracts that were previously withheld by the conference. The contracts and documents obtained by Moody are at the center of FSU’s dispute with the ACC, Moody’s office said in August.
The ACC did not respond to requests for comment about the amicus brief, which was filed by attorneys general in Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah.