| | The controversy surrounding Alexei Yashin's contract standoff with the Ottawa Senators now has a much wider -- and litigious -- scope.
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A group of Senators fans is suing Yashin and his agent, Mark Gandler, for breach of contract because Yashin isn't honoring the one year remaining on his current deal.
Retired real estate agent Len Potechin led the way by filing a class action suit for $27.5 million in Canadian funds in Ontario superior court
Monday.
"If you get people who don't honor their contracts, I think you've got a problem," he told Reuters. "I don't think we'll get $27.5 million, but I think we'll get something."
Potechin pledged that any money earned from the suit would go to charity.
Yashin was set to earn $3.6 million but wants to renegotiate and earn between $8 million to $10 million. At the moment, he is in Switzerland training.
Yashin is not the sole defendant. The suit demands $8 million in general damages and $5
million in punitive damages from Yashin. It also asks for $8 million in general damages and $6.5 million in punitive damages from Gandler.
The dollar amounts were from the rationale that fans paid an average of $4,000 per season ticket for the 1999-2000 season with the expectation Yashin would be playing.
According to the Ottawa Sun, the claim alleges Yashin and Gandler acted "deliberately and maliciously" and created a situation of "dissatisfaction, anger and disillusionment" among season ticket holders.
Arthur Cogan, the lawyer handling the suit, said it was the
first time fans had ever sued a player of a professional sports
team for refusing to perform.
"I'm getting enquiries from owners of other hockey teams. They want to know how the action is framed," he told Reuters. "Interest in this is going to heighten. The Americans feel this is a big issue, not just with hockey. They're looking at this as an important precedent."
Approximately 200 season ticket holders support the lawsuit, but the intention is to involve all 11,000 and have the court fees spread out to all supporters.
Legal documents must still be served to Yashin and Gandler. Both have 40 and 60 days, respectively, to file a statement of defense.
"I feel that we have a very good case," Cogan told the Sun. "In this case, the contractual relationship is between the fans and the (hockey) club. He interfered with that contract by refusing to play, and he devalued the worth of a season ticket."
Gandler's response?
"What do you do in a situation like this? You retain a lawyer, have him handle it for you, forget about it," Gandler said from New Jersey.
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