In court papers filed Monday, lawyers for the Knicks said they will be seeking more than $10 million in damages from the Toronto Raptors for what they allege is intellectual property theft. They also detailed why they believe NBA commissioner Adam Silver would be compromised as an arbiter of the case and again asked the court – and not Silver – to adjudicate the case.
“We were the victim of a theft of proprietary and confidential files, which is a clear violation of criminal and civil law, and we remain confident that the Court will decide in our favor in this matter,” an MSG Sports spokesperson said in a statement Monday.
Last month, the Knicks filed suit against the Raptors and several members of their organization, including former Knicks employee Ikechukwu Azotam, alleging that Azotam “illegally took thousands of proprietary files” from the Knicks and disclosed it to members of the Raptors, including new head coach Darko Rajaković and other members of the coaching staff.
Rajakovic has publicly denied any wrongdoing.
In a response to the Knicks, lawyers for the Toronto Raptors labeled the suit “baseless” and a “publicity stunt”.
They also want the matter to be arbitrated by Silver.
The Toronto lawyers cited the NBA Constitution, which states that the commissioner “shall have exclusive, full, complete, and final jurisdiction of any dispute involving two (2) or more Members of the Association.”
In Monday’s filing, the Knicks argued that the NBA Constitution does not cover the issues raised in its suit.
“Contrary to defendants’ claims, this is not a dispute about basketball operations. There is no nexus between the claims and the NBA Constitution,” lawyers wrote in Monday’s filing.
“It is a dispute about the theft of trade secrets by a disloyal employee, a scenario not contemplated by the NBA Constitution. Trade secret misappropriation, breaches of contract, and tort claims are the types of issues routinely appearing before federal judges. We are unaware of the NBA Commissioner ever having handled something similar.”
In arguing against the court sending the case to arbitration, Knick lawyers…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/knicks-seeking-over-10-million-005623922.html
Author : SNY
Publish date : 2023-11-21 00:56:23
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