Naimoli v. Pro-Football, Inc.

692 F.Supp.3d 499

Michael A. NAIMOLI, Jr., Morgan French,Andrew Collins and Marissa Santarlasci, Plaintiffs, v. PRO-FOOTBALL, INC. a/k/a Washington Commanders Football Team,previously known as Washington Football Team,previously known as Washington Redskins Football Team,WFI Stadium, Inc., previously known as JKC Stadium, Inc.,Contemporary Services Corp. and Company Does, Defendants.

Civil Action No. TDC-22-2276

United States District Court, D. Maryland

Signed September 14, 2023

Robert David Sokolove, Weir Greenblatt Pierce LLP, Philadelphia, PA, for Plaintiffs.

Brett Stephen Covington, Grant Wagner Hollingsworth, Joe G. Hollingsworth, Hollingsworth LLP, Washington, DC, Halle Gray, Paul McDermott Finamore, Pessin Katz Law, P.A., Columbia, MD, for Defendants Pro-Football, Inc., WFI Stadium, Inc.

Michael Patrick Gallagher, Martell Donnelly Grimaldi and Gallagher PA, Hunt Valley, MD, for Defendant Contemporary Services Corporation (CSC).

MEMORANDUM OPINION

THEODORE D. CHUANG, United States District Judge

Plaintiffs Michael A. Naimoli, Jr., Morgan French. Andrew Collins, and Marissa Santarlasci have filed this civil action against Defendants Pro-Football, Inc., WFI Stadium, Inc., and Contemporary Services Corporation in which they allege negligence claims arising from injuries that they sustained at a January 2, 2022 professional football game at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland. Defendants have filed a Motion to Compel Arbitration and Dismiss, ECF No. 35, and Plaintiffs have filed a Cross Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, ECF No. 38, both of which are fully briefed. Having reviewed the submitted materials, the Court finds that no hearing is necessary. See D. Md. Local R. 105.6. For the reasons set forth below. Defendants Motion will be DENIED, and Plaintiffs' Motion will be GRANTED.

BACKGROUND

I. Factual Background

On the morning of January 2, 2022, Plaintiffs drove from their homes in New Jersey to FedEx Field ("the stadium"), a stadium located at 1600 FedEx Way, Landover, Maryland, which is owned by Defendant WFI Stadium, Inc. ("WFI"). Plaintiffs entered the stadium to attend a National Football League ("NFL") game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Football Team, now known as the Washington Commanders, which is legally known as Pro-Football, Inc. ("PFI"). Plaintiffs accessed the stadium using tickets which had been purchased by non-party Brandon Gordon, who is Naimoli's cousin. At the conclusion of the game, hoping to greet the Eagles players, Plaintiffs moved from their seats to an area of the stadium located near a tunnel through which the players would pass as they left the field. Plaintiffs sought and obtained permission from staff members of Contemporary Services Corporation ("CSC"), the company that provided security at the game, before entering that area, which had a railing separating fans from the players who would pass beneath them.

Upon receiving permission from CSC staff members, Plaintiffs were guided to stand in the railing area alongside the tunnel. In an attempt to greet the players. Plaintiffs leaned against the railing, which gave way and caused Plaintiffs to fall five to ten feet onto the hard surface below. CSC staff began to lift Plaintiffs and the railing off of the ground, but they did not render medical aid or address any potential injuries. CSC staff directed Plaintiffs to get back on the wall from which they had just fallen and told them to "get the fuck out of the stadium." Am. Compl. ¶ 45, ECF No. 32. Plaintiffs then left the stadium and drove back to New Jersey.

Although the NFL later stated that it would complete a full investigation of the incident, neither the NFL nor any Defendants undertook an investigation. Plaintiffs have suffered a variety of physical injuries and emotional impacts from the fall, and they continued to receive medical care for their injuries at least up to September 9, 2022, the date of the filing of the original Complaint in this case. In the presently operative Amended Complaint, Plaintiffs allege claims of negligence or gross negligence against Defendants arising from this incident.

II. The Arbitration Clause

Defendants seek dismissal of this action based on an arbitration clause that appeared on the "back" of the electronic tickets sold for entry to the game and also appeared in the "Washington Football Team Terms & Conditions ("WFT Terms & Conditions") found on the website used to purchase the tickets. The arbitration clause reads, in relevant part:

Any dispute, claim, or cause of action in any way related to the ticket or the event shall be resolved by mandatory, confidential, final, and binding arbitration in Loudon County, Virginia. Holder and Management agree that all disputes shall be arbitrated on an individual basis. Holder understands that they are waiving their right to a court or jury trial and any right to litigate or arbitrate any claim as a class action, representative action, or class arbitration. If Holder does not consent to this clause, Holder must leave or not enter the stadium. This clause is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act.

Laurer Decl. Ex. 1 at 1. Defs.' Mot. Ex. B, ECF No. 35-3. Under the WFT Terms & Conditions, a "Holder" is "[t]he person seeking entry pursuant to such license, and any accompanying minors." Id. The Holder is "deemed to have read the Terms and has agreed to be bound by them." Id. "Management" is defined as the NFL, the Washington Football Team "and/or WFI Stadium, Inc.," individually or collectively. Id.

III. Ticket Purchase and Admission

Because Defendants argue that Plaintiffs are hound by the arbitration clause, the parties have submitted additional information relating to the circumstances under which Plaintiffs' tickets were purchased and used to enter the stadium.

In the Amended Complaint, Plaintiffs state that they "received the tickets for the game from Naimoli's cousin" who had purchased the tickets on TickPick, a third-party ticket outlet. Am. Compl. ¶ 16. The Amended Complaint further states that Naimoli's cousin was not in attendance at the game but instead electronically forwarded to Plaintiffs the tickets, which "consisted of PDF files which listed the name, date, and location" of their seat numbers and included a QR code, with no terms and conditions appearing on those tickets. Id. ¶ 20. Plaintiffs asserted that they gained entrance to the stadium by "open[ing] the PDF files on their smartphones" while "ticket-takers scanned the QR code." Id. ¶¶ 20-21. Plaintiffs state that no terms and conditions were presented to them by the ticket-takers or displayed in their view at any time during the course of their entry into the stadium.

With the briefing on the Motions, the parties submitted declarations and exhibits which have clarified how the tickets were purchased and used on the day in question. On December 27, 2021, six days before the football game, Naimoli's cousin. Brandon Gordon, purchased the tickets through TickPick. At that time, when a ticket purchase was made through TickPick, the purchaser was sent a link to access the tickets through the Washington Football Team's specific ticketing webpage contained within the Ticketmaster website, which was specifically designed with Washington Football Team branding ("the WFT/Ticketmaster Website"). Users were required to log in using their Ticketmaster account information in order to access their tickets. On January 2, 2022, Gordon signed in to his Ticketmaster account prior to the game and placed the tickets in the Apple Wallet application on his iPhone.

Both Gordon and Defendants have provided screen-capture images depicting the various steps necessary to download the tickets. After he received a confirmation email from TickPick on December 27, 2021, Gordon received an email from the "Washington Football Team Ticket Office" directing him to accept the nine tickets he had purchased. Gordon Decl. Ex. 3, Pls.' Opp'n Ex. A, ECF No. 38-2. On January 2, 2022. upon clicking on the link provided in the email. Gordon was taken to the log-in page for the WFT/Ticketmaster Website. Though no terms and conditions from the Washington Football Team. PFI, WFI, or CSC appeared on the Ticketmaster log-in page, it contained a notice stating that "By continuing past this page, you agree to the Terms of Use and understand that information will be used as described in both the Ticketmaster Privacy Policy and Washington [Football Team] Privacy Policy." Carabajal Decl. Ex. 1, Defs.' Reply Ex. A, ECF No. 40-1. The phrases "Terms of Use," "Privacy Policy," and "Washington [Football Team] Privacy Policy" appear in a differently-colored font than the surrounding text, which represents to the user that the text is a clickable link. Id. Upon clicking on the "Terms of Use" link, a box appears which allows the user to toggle between the Ticketmaster Terms of Use and the WFT Terms & Conditions. The parties disagree on which set of terms appears initially to the user.

Though Gordon accurately states that no Terms of Use appeared on the log-in page, a pop-up window appeared subsequent to sign-in which contained the same tabs for the Ticketmaster Terms of Use and the WFT Terms & Conditions, with the parties in disagreement as to which set of terms actually appeared to the user.

When the tab for WFT Terms & Conditions is selected, the following relevant language appears:

Tickets to Washington [Football Team] games and other events held at FedEx Field are revocable licenses that only grant a one-time entry into the stadium . . . for the specified game or event (the "Event") with no right of re-entry. The person seeking entry pursuant to such license, and any accompanying minors or guests ("Holder"). agrees that such license is subject to these terms ("Terms") and by purchase, acceptance, and/or use of such license, Holder is deemed to have read the Terms and has agreed to be bound by them. Failure to comply with the Terms shall result in forfeiture of the license and

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