Vijay's Lawyer: Tour Has Made Multiple Drug Policy Exceptions
Peter Ginsburg, Vijay Singh's attorney in the lawsuit against the tour over Vijay's since-revoked suspension, says he has evidence that the PGA Tour has been exempting players from testing and has chosen not to punish others for positive test results.
Ryan Ballengee reveals what was said in a court hearing last month.
“[O]ne of the elements of bad faith that we are prepared to show in this case, is that the PGA (Tour) has made exception after exception after exception, both with regard to whom it was administering this drug policy, and against whom it was disciplining, violators of the drug policy,” Ginsburg said in an Oct. 24 hearing on the PGA Tour’s motion to dismiss Singh’s lawsuit.
Ginsburg continued, “[F]or some reason, for some reason, for some reason, the PGA (Tour) singled out Mr. Singh and treated him in a way that it has not historically or uniformly treated other PGA (Tour) members.”
Gosh this is going to be so fun. Other than the truth coming out, who do you root for in this one?
Geoff
**Garry Smits has more from the hearing, including this comedic moment.
Early in the hearing, Mishkin said a characterization in Singh’s lawsuit that Tour players have no input into its rules and policies was wrong. Singh claimed that the Tour players have no “bargaining power,” such as unions in other professional sports.
“The players themselves govern the Tour, control the Tour,” Mishkin said, which is required under the legal definition of a 501 (c) (6) non-profit.
At the heart of the issue is the acceptance of players to comply with the Tour’s Anti-Doping Policy when they sign their annual membership agreement. The policy was approved by the 16-member Players Advisory Council and the nine-member PGA Tour Policy board, which has four player-directors.
My math says, nine directors, four are players. Control? Governing power? I think not.
Reader Comments (42)
Us hardcore golf fans need something to keep us engaged over the winter months. It appears legal battles will take the center stage.
"In rendering his decision in a particular case, the Commissioner may depart from the sanction guidance in the International Anti-Doping Standards as he deems appropriate in a particular case." - PGA Tour Anti-Doping Program Manual.
Tim has power after test results are in. But with regard to whom it tests? That's a completely different matter if Ginsburg can prove it. At least we can be comforted by the fact that Tim would never make a decision based on his bottom line.
To keep you engaged over the winter months? Little Timmy has two words for you - wraparound season!
The tour reversed its decision to suspend Vijay after the WADA took deer antler spray off the list. He did not miss an event during the suspension, and all his escrowed prize money was returned to him.
His claims read like a bad second year law student's tort exam answer - intentional infliction of mental distress, breach of fiduciary duty, negligence. The tour's enforcement of its own drug policy is relevant to its defense that private organizations can write their own rules - but in my humble opinion after reading about a half hour, it is a side show to a lawsuit that will eventually get flushed, for the 30 or so reasons the tour states in its motion.
And, pure guess on my part, but it is likely that any discovery regarding other drug tests is subject to a confidentiality order, and not likely to see the light of day, so don't get your hopes up.
Readers can go to the website of the New York County Clerk's office, go to Court Resources, then to Case information. The site will ask for the index number which is 6516592013. Once there, you can view all of the filings in the case, including the various motion papers. Vijay's papers, with regard to banned substance and other Tour members, only mentions one other player, Mark Calcavechia, who also used antler spray.
If you read Ginsburg filing, it claims the Tour did not do any due diligence to determine if antler spray was in fact performance enhancing before suspending him. If that is true, they should settle up front.
Secondly, if Ginsburg's got anything substantial showing variance on the procedure, it never goes to court. The Tour would take a beating in the press.
And Bob, what evidence did Tiger show of steroid use 5 years ago? Evidence, really??
Brandel is rather lucky everyone focused on the Tiger stuff, and ignored his Vijay comment. And that everyone dislikes Vijay so nobody stood up for him.
Hopefully the suit isn't dismissed, but it sounds like it could be, based upon Pat's review (+1, Pat)
And IF it goes thru, hopefully VJ won't settle, and all the beans wil be rolled out on the table....
I was a bif VJ fan when he was on his winning streak- not as a fairweather fan, but as an admirer of winning in his 40's. In retrospect, I now wonder if he was juicing, since he abruptly quit winning when the ''enforcer'' rules got serious.
I don't care for his attitude, but I hope he wins this thing, and the PGAT is exposed.
Will it happen? 25-1, no.
Im guessing his knee was shot and he decided to try heal it with any non surgical means possible and the muscle gain was a side effect. He got linebacker jacked in 2 months, kept it for 6 then lost it in 2 months...either a typical steroid cycle or a complete coincidence. I do know that the reaction on tour from the few players I know was " are you F%^&$ing kidding me??" when they first saw him with 25 extra pounds. It's only a wild guess with no supporting evidence but it fits the facts.
But in the past, filled with yes men who did the Board's bidding to further their own corporate growth.
Players took a backseat to business in most cases. Sometimes that is obviously the best way,
but players have very little say compared to what is publicly stated.
Think "our representative" government and you get the idea
As previously stated, pulling for Vijay here...
...but worried for him. Just started perusing the docs and this sentence starts on page 1, and ends on page 2, of the very first filing/complaint:
"The PGA TOUR does continuous and systematic business in New York, employs personnel in New York and hosts events in New York, including but not limited to the 2013 PGA Championship, one of the PGA TOUR’s most prestigious event."
Does the tour co-sanction majors? Is there a direct business relationship whereby such a claim could be made?
"After considering all of the information in this case, the Commissioner has concluded that your conduct is a violation of the Program rules. The sanction imposed on you for your clear violation of the Program rules is ineligibility to participate in PGA TOUR or Web.com TOUR competitions and any related activities for a period of 90 days. Given that your earnings have been held in escrow since your participation in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, your suspension will begin retroactively to February 4, 2013 and will conclude May 11, 2013. Your results, earnings and FedExCup points from both the 2013 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and the 2013 Northern Trust Open will be redistributed."
1. No mention of Senior Tour.
2. They make it retroactive so he couldn't keep that dough and then go cherrypick Senior Tour while he was "suspended"?
Could vj's sacked caddies sue him for "mental distress"?
Why would ViJay settle?
He's not in this thing for the cash he wants revenge. My money is on ViJay.
I still think there's pretty strong evidence that his image was tarnished through the TOUR's original decision. This put him in a position where the only way to seek compensation for this was to further tarnish his reputation by commencing legal action.
Just say no to homeopathy, kids. They don't give you any of the nice feelings, and people will still hate you for using them. They may even say so in the press, and no-one will come to your defense.
(And for the nutsacks who keep harping on about how Vijay hasn't won since testing started... seriously? The guy is 51 and still works out more in a week than most guys do in a year. But he still putts like he has Parkinson's, as he has for most of the last 15 years, except for occasional bursts where he finds a new method that works for a while, during which time he kicks serious butt. Check out the Frys putting stats -- if Vijay and Jimmy Walker swapped putting stats, Vijay would have won by about 8 shots instead of coming second.)
If you include me in your namecalling, I don't appreciate it. I qualified my statement, and I remain uncertain, no matter how certain you seem to think you are.
Illusion, imagination, wishing and certainty are strange bedfellows.
And I still hope VJ gets to go to court, and wins..
Vijay: I used antler spray.
PGA: antler spray is banned.
Vijay: I did not know, but don't believe it is banned. It's not a PED.
PGA: it contains growth hormone, so it banned.
Vijay: but it cannot be ingested orally, so it should not be banned. I WILL send for independent tests.
PGA: go ahead, you are suspended.
........
Vijay: hey, the tests came back negative, cannot be ingested orally, therefore not a PED.
PGA: WADA? WADA the fvck is going on?
WADA: he's right, we WARNED about antler spray but did not ban it specifically as we could not show it to be a PED. We warned it may lead to a negative test as it contained IGF. But turns out it will not.
PGA: Vijay, you are NOT suspended, it's a misunderstanding. All WADAs fault. You understand of course.
Vijay: yeah, I understand you don't have a clue about PED testing or how to distinguish the difference between a positive test and a product warning. How do you implement a drug testing program without any idea how to manage it?
PGA : Vijay, you understand of course.
Vijay: ( on phone) may I speak with Peter Ginsburg please, I understand he has some experience in these matters and I would like him to represent me in a dispute I have with the Tour. In the words of Buffurd T. Justice, " I am going to BBQ their ass".
Ginsburg: they did what? No, really? What? You cannot be serious?
PGA: we are never wrong, we are really smart but occasionally screw up. Vijay, you understand, of course?
Ginsburg: as part of full disclosure, can we see all the files related to drug testing?
PGA: oh sh1t, now they are going to see the window dressing for what it is. Lets work on a baseless dismissal.
PGA lawyer: Everyone quiet.. They really are going to pay us to try to dismiss.
...and it continues.
No offense intended. Just read too many times how Vijay "must" have juiced, yada yada yada, when most of his power comes from flexibility rather than bulk.
It is funny that the Tour rejected the notion that players have no power, given the minority of players on the Policy Board. Moreover, since the Commissioner has the discretion to override or at least deviate from the suggested methods/sanctions, it pretty much means that whenever the players do somehow push through a policy, it's still up to one man to decide whether or not that policy will be followed.
Yay for democracy, corporate style. Oops, I mean non-profit organization style. Oops, I mean non-profit for everyone except the commish and his VPs. I think that's what I mean. It's hard to tell, these days.
Sometimes issues that are reported as boobs behaving inappropriately are more complex than they seem.
And somehow I think the milk of Finchem's kindness dried up long ago.