National Hockey League v. Plymouth Whalers Hockey

• Citation: 166 F.Supp.2d 1155
• Decision Date: 27 September 2001
• Docket Number: No. 01-70968.,01-70968.
• Parties: NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYERS' ASSOCIATION, Plaintiff, v. PLYMOUTH WHALERS HOCKEY CLUB d/b/a Plymouth Whalers et. al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan

Page 1155

166 F.Supp.2d 1155

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYERS' ASSOCIATION, Plaintiff, v. PLYMOUTH WHALERS HOCKEY CLUB d/b/a Plymouth Whalers et. al., Defendants.

No. 01-70968.

United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division.

September 27, 2001.

William A. Sankbeil, Joanne G. Swanson, Kerr, Russell, Detroit, MI, Michael P. Conway, John R. McCambridge, Kelly C. Wilson, Grippo & Elden, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff.

Stephen Wasinger, Gregory D. Hanley, Wasinger, Kickham, Royal Oak, MI, for Defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS

ROBERTS, District Judge.

I. Introduction

This antitrust action is before the Court on Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Based on Forum Non Conveniens and Lack of Standing, and the Canadian Defendants' Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction. For the reasons stated below, the Court will delay a decision regarding the propriety of exercising personal jurisdiction over Defendant David Branch until the parties have conducted discovery on that issue. Otherwise, the Court will deny the Motions in their entirety.

II. Background

Plaintiff the National Hockey League Players' Association ("Plaintiff") has brought this suit against the Ontario Hockey League ("OHL"), twenty of the OHL hockey clubs, and OHL Commissioner David Branch. Plaintiff seeks to enjoin Defendants from continuing an agreement that Plaintiff deems "an illegal group boycott and concerted refusal to deal." (Complaint at 1).

Almost all of the parties in this action are Canadian. Plaintiff is an unincorporated labor organization, organized under the laws of Ontario. The OHL is one of three member leagues within the Canadian Hockey League. And, the vast majority of the OHL clubs listed as Defendants are located within Ontario, Canada.

Yet, the parties have clear connections with the United States. Although Plaintiff is an Ontario organization, it is also the exclusive bargaining representative of all present and future hockey players in the National Hockey League ("NHL"). Further, according to Plaintiff's Complaint, two of the Defendant teams are located in Michigan (in Plymouth Township and in Sault Ste. Marie), and one is located in Erie, Pennsylvania.¹ Other clubs located in Ontario are within an easy driving distance with Southeastern Michigan (e.g., Windsor and Sarnia). Additionally, according to Plaintiff, the OHL is a major source of players to the NHL; 39 OHL players were selected by NHL clubs in 2000. Various financial and other agreements have also been entered into between the OHL and NHL.

Perhaps most significantly, the only hockey players affected by the rule Plaintiff challenges are players for U.S. colleges. The rule at issue — the "Van Ryn Rule" — derived its name from Mike Van Ryn, a former hockey player for the University of Michigan. Van Ryn was drafted by the New Jersey Devils, a NHL club, in June 1998. Consequently, New Jersey had the exclusive rights vis-a-vis other NHL clubs to negotiate with Van Ryn. Those exclusive rights, however, did not extend to clubs within the OHL.

As Plaintiff explains it, the OHL allows each club to have up to three 20 year old, dubbed "overage," players on their rosters.² Despite being drafted by New Jersey, Van Ryn signed to play for the OHL's Sarnia Sting for the 1999-2000 season. Sarnia's signing of Van Ryn meant that, pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement ("CBA") between the NHL and Plaintiff, New Jersey's exclusive rights extended until June 1, 2000. Unless New Jersey signed Van Ryn by that date, he would become an unrestricted free agent, free to negotiate with any NHL club. In an effort to prevent that, New Jersey deemed Van Ryn a "defected" player, meaning that, at most, he could become a restricted free agent over whom New Jersey would retain some rights. The NHL supported New Jersey's action. Plaintiff did not.

Plaintiff filed a grievance on Van Ryn's behalf and prevailed. Van Ryn, thus, became an unrestricted free agent and signed a contract with the St. Louis Blues for significantly more than he would have attained from New Jersey.

NHL's support of New Jersey is relevant here because, according to Plaintiff, the NHL exerted its influence over the OHL to get it to establish the Van Ryn rule. To explain the NHL's ability to influence the OHL, Plaintiff detailed their relationship: The NHL and OHL are affiliates under the CBA between the NHL and Plaintiff; the NHL provides coaches, scouting, club management and player consultation services to the OHL; the NHL and OHL have detailed rules allowing the loan and recall of players from the OHL to the NHL; the OHL clubs provide rink advertising space to promote the NHL; and, the NHL makes substantial financial payments to the OHL.

According to Plaintiff, the NHL and Commissioner Branch influenced the OHL clubs to adopt the Van Ryn Rule, prohibiting 20 year old U.S. college players from playing in the OHL.³ Defendants have relied upon the Van Ryn Rule to refuse to hire 20 year old U.S. college players.

In its Complaint, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants have violated the Sherman Act and the Michigan Antitrust Reform Act by enacting the Van Ryn Rule, a Rule that hurts 20 year old players for U.S. college teams as well as other NHL players, who are negatively affected by the artificially suppressed salary the Van Ryn Rule causes.

Importantly, Plaintiff seek only declaratory and injunctive relief; it requests no damages.

III. Analysis

A.

Defendants move the Court to dismiss this action pursuant to the doctrine of forum non conveniens. That doctrine allows a district court to exercise its discretion to resist jurisdiction over a case. Gulf Oil Corp. v. Gilbert, 330 U.S. 501, 67 S.Ct. 839, 91 L.Ed. 1055 (1947). "Under Gilbert, dismissal will ordinarily be appropriate where trial in the plaintiff's chosen forum imposes a heavy burden on the defendant or the court, and where the plaintiff is unable to offer any specific reasons of convenience supporting his choice." Piper Aircraft Co. v. Reyno, 454 U.S. 235, 249, 102 S.Ct. 252, 70 L.Ed.2d 419 (1981). Gilbert instructed that, when forum non conveniens is alleged, a court should consider relevant private and public factors.

An interest to be considered, and the one likely to be most pressed, is the private interest of the litigant. Important considerations are the relative ease of access to sources of proof; availability of compulsory process for attendance of unwilling, and the cost of obtaining attendance of willing, witnesses; possibility of view of premises, if view would be appropriate to the action; and all other practical problems that make trial of a case easy, expeditious and inexpensive. There may also be questions as to the enforceability of a judgment if one is obtained. The court will weigh relative advantages and obstacles to fair trial. It is often said that the plaintiff may not, by choice of an inconvenient forum, "vex," "harass," or "oppress" the defendant by inflicting upon him expense or trouble not necessary to his own right to pursue his remedy. But unless the balance is strongly in favor of the defendant, the plaintiff's choice of forum should rarely be disturbed.

Factors of public interest also have a place in applying the doctrine. Administrative difficulties follow for courts when litigation is piled up in congested centers instead of being handled at its origin. Jury duty is a burden that ought not to be imposed upon the people of a community which has no relation to the litigation. In cases which touch the affairs of many persons, there is reason for holding the trial in their view and reach rather than in remote parts of the country where they can learn of it by report only. There is a local interest in having localized controversies decided at home. There is an appropriateness, too, in having the trial of a diversity case in a forum that is at home with the state law that must govern the case, rather than having a court in some other forum untangle problems in conflict of laws, and in law foreign to itself.

Id. at 508, 67 S.Ct. 839.

The Gilbert Court emphasized that "[t]he doctrine leaves much to the discretion of the court to which plaintiff resorts," and that "the combination and weight of factors requisite to given results are difficult to forecast or state ...." Id. This flexible approach to applying forum non conveniens factors was upheld in Piper.

The Third Circuit in Piper had reversed the trial court's dismissal for forum non conveniens in the wrongful death actions before it. The district court had dismissed the actions in favor of Scotland, where the plane crashes at issue took place. In reversing, the Third Circuit reasoned that the dismissal in favor of Scotland would eliminate the plaintiffs' strict liability claims.

The Supreme Court rejected the reasoning of the Third Circuit, stating, "The possibility of a change in substantive law should ordinarily not be given conclusive or even substantial weight in the forum non conveniens inquiry." Id. at 247, 102 S.Ct. 252. Contrary to the Third Circuit's holding, Gilbert had emphasized the need to retain a flexible approach to resolving forum non conveniens motions. Id. at 249, 102 S.Ct. 252. Further, giving controlling or substantial weight to the possibility of a change in the law would eviscerate the forum non conveniens doctrine.

Jurisdiction and venue requirements are often easily satisfied. As a result, many plaintiffs are able to choose from among several forums. Ordinarily, these plaintiffs will select that forum whose choice-of-law rules are most advantageous. Thus, if the possibility of an unfavorable change in substantive law is given substantial weight in the forum non conveniens inquiry, dismissal would rarely be proper.

Id. at 250, 102 S.Ct. 252.⁴

Nonetheless, the Piper Court allowed that, "if the remedy provided by the alternative forum is so clearly inadequate or unsatisfactory that it is no remedy...