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Latest Cases & Developments
Date:
Hartke v. Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers Corp. (S.D. N.Y. Dec. 11, 2023)
Memorandum Opinion & Order granting Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss. Plaintiff is the niece of Father Gilbert V. Hartke, a priest of the Dominican order who taught drama at the Catholic University of America until he died intestate in 1986. She, in her individual capacity and on behalf of Father Hartke’s estate, sued the University and its auctioneers, asserting rights to a “blue pinafore dress with a white blouse, which had been worn by Judy Garland when she appeared as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz film” that had been given to Father Hartke and that was “discovered” in 2021 “in a storage location” on the University’s campus among other items that had belonged to him. In granting dismissal for lack of standing, the court held that plaintiff did not plead facts sufficient to show that she was the real party in interest, noting that Father Hartke had taken a vow of poverty at his ordination in 1933 whereby he renounced his salary and temporal goods in favor of the Dominican order, that the only item listed in the inventory of his estate during probate proceedings was the right to publicize his name, and that plaintiff had shown no basis for her now to assert a claim on behalf of the estate.
Topics:
Endowments & Gifts | Taxes & FinancesDate:
NACUBO Comment Letter to the FTC on NPRM on Unfair and Deceptive Fees (Jan. 8, 2024)
Comment Letter from the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) and the American Council on Education (ACE) to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on its Proposed Trade Regulation Rule on Unfair and Deceptive Fees. The Letter expressed concern that the proposed regulations would increase administrative burdens by duplicating regulations already present in the higher education sector from the Higher Education Act, the FAFSA Simplification Act, and related sources. It suggested revisions and proposed collaborative discussions to minimize unnecessary overlap.
Topics:
Taxes & FinancesDate:
U.S. Dep.’t of the Treasury ANPRM on U.S. Investments in Certain National Security Technologies and Products in Countries of Concern (Aug. 14, 2023)
U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Investment Security Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) on Provisions Pertaining to U.S. Investments in Certain National Security Technologies and Products in Countries of Concern. Pursuant to Executive Order 14105, the Office of Investment Security issued an ANPRM seeking public comment on multiple topics related to the requirement that it issue regulation to prohibit or require notification to the Department related to “categories of transactions involving technologies and products that pose a particularly acute national security threat to the United States.” These transactions would include investments related to semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies, and AI systems in countries or regions of concern, including the People’s Republic of China. Comments are due on or before September 28, 2023.
Topics:
Taxes & FinancesDate:
Smart v. Nat’l Collegiate Athletic Ass’n (E.D. Cal. July 27, 2023)
Memorandum and Order granting-in-part and denying-in-part Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss. Plaintiffs in two related cases, former “volunteer coaches” in multiple sports at Division I universities in California and Arizona, on behalf of themselves and putative classes, brought antitrust and unjust enrichment claims against the National Collegiate Athletic Association, alleging that, as a result of NCAA Bylaw 11.01.06 (repealed in January 2023) permitting schools to add one unpaid coach position, they worked at a rate of compensation below what they would have received in a competitive market. In permitting plaintiffs’ antitrust claims to proceed, the court found under a quick look analysis that plaintiffs had sufficiently alleged that the Bylaw had an anticompetitive effect, noting the large salaries of other coaches and recent increases in those salaries. The court dismissed their unjust enrichment claims, however, noting that the volunteer coaches had not alleged that they worked without contracts.
Topics:
Antitrust | Athletics & Sports | Athletics Compliance & NCAA Rules | Taxes & FinancesDate:
Pearson Foundation, et al. v. The Univ. of Chi. (N.D. Okla. July 31, 2023)
Memorandum and Order granting-in-part and denying-in-part Defendant’s Partial Motion for Summary Judgment. Plaintiffs, two foundations and one benefactor who had committed $100 million to the University of Chicago to establish a named Institute with related programming, brought contract and fraudulent inducement claims against the University following disputes regarding Institute staffing and programing. The court permitted plaintiffs to proceed on their claim related to faculty hires, finding that although the Grant Agreement provided plaintiffs no “role or authority with respect to making appointments,” the University is nevertheless obligated to use the grant for purposes consistent with the Institute’s stated mission. The court also permitted plaintiffs to proceed on their fraudulent inducement claim alleging that the University misrepresented the extent to which it would contribute funding for salaries and student support rather than operate the Institute as a standalone entity on a perpetual basis. It dismissed plaintiffs’ claim that the University did not develop the agreed upon curriculum, finding that language in recitals stating that the Grant would be used to “create educational programs” did not preclude the University from offering existing courses through the Institute, noting that the operative language merely required the University to offer a specified number of courses.
Topics:
Contracts | Endowments & Gifts | Taxes & Finances
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