money Baseball fans sue MLB over lack of refunds amid coronavirus
Baseball fans are suing the MLB after the league failed to refund attendees for cancelled games. Milberg Attorney Kelly Hyman joins Yahoo Finance’s Zack Guzman to discuss.
Video Transcript
ZACK GUZMAN: Of course, you've been tracking the way that businesses have been responding in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, and right now, two baseball fans are suing the league, as well as the teams, over whether or not ticket funds should be refunded here as more games are postponed due to the crisis.
When we look at it, of course, Opening Day was supposed to happen March 26. That got pushed back to May, mid-May at the earliest. They were still awaiting details on that. For more on the case, I want to bring on the attorney representing those fans as she seeks class-action status. Kelly Hyman, attorney at Milberg, joins us right now on the show.
Kelly, thank you so much for being here. I guess this is something a lot of people are heated about right now. When you think about struggling to make ends meet, you might want the money back that you paid for tickets, so what are you trying to push for in getting this done from the league?
KELLY HYMAN: Yes. Well, first, thank you so much for having me on the show. I really appreciate it, and I just hope that you and your family are doing well and to all the viewers that are safe and healthy. And a special shout out to all the health care providers that are fighting every day to save people's lives.
We are dealing with economic stress. People are struggling financially. Stay-at-home orders. Economically, people are losing a job. Approximately 24 million people are unemployed, and because events being canceled or postpone, such as the Major League Baseball, and so people want their money back.
People asked for their money back, and they've gotten no answers. No response. No kind of plan. So we have people, one of the class representatives who's a grandmother who wanted to take her grandson to the baseball games. They need the money right now, and it's just not fair that they're holding onto their money.
ZACK GUZMAN: Yeah, I mean, there's a lot to work through here, when you think about all these teams trying to think of a plan here. But what's the best-case scenario for you in this case as you seek class-action lawsuit for all the people who may have bought tickets heading into the season now strapped for cash? How do you want this to be resolved?
KELLY HYMAN: You know, we want them made whole. I think that's important for them. They need their money. There's no kind of plan or anything in place for them, and it's just not right for them to hold the money, and they need to be held accountable for their actions.
That's why we brought a class-action lawsuit, for people that have purchased tickets or that are similarly situated. A class-action is a group of people that bring a lawsuit for themselves or other ones that are similarly situated. We want justice.
ZACK GUZMAN: You've also named the ticket administrators here as well, the companies that process ticket sales as well. When you look at it, we're talking about pretty considerable sums of money when you think about in relation to the $1,200 stimulus checks here.
How quickly can this be resolved? When you think about mid-May, I mean, we're only a couple of weeks from that, and it doesn't sound like we're anywhere close to having people back in the stadium. What's your take on the timeline here?
KELLY HYMAN: Yeah, ultimately you will have to see what happens, but we're hoping for the best for our clients, because it's just not fair what's happened to them, and they need to be compensated for it and made whole. It's just not right.
ZACK GUZMAN: All right, we'll leave it there. Of course, we'll continue to track this case. You'll have to bring us the updates when you hear from the league, no doubt trying to process all of this. Kelly Hyman, thank you so much for joining us and breaking that down. Appreciate you taking the time.
