Ohio Harness Horsemen's Ass'n, Inc. v. Northfield Park Assocs., LLC

288 F. Supp. 3d 823
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedDecember 13, 2017
DocketCASE NO. 5:16–cv–1780
StatusPublished

This text of 288 F. Supp. 3d 823 (Ohio Harness Horsemen's Ass'n, Inc. v. Northfield Park Assocs., LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ohio Harness Horsemen's Ass'n, Inc. v. Northfield Park Assocs., LLC, 288 F. Supp. 3d 823 (N.D. Ohio 2017).

Opinion

HONORABLE SARA LIOI, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Before the Court is the emergency motion of Northfield Park Associates, LLC ("NPA") for relief from the extended *825agreed order of August 8, 2016. (Doc. No. 142 ["Mot."].)1 Plaintiff Ohio Harness Horsemen's Association, Inc. ("OHHA") filed its opposition (Doc. No. 145 ["Opp'n"] ), with Exhibits B, C, and H filed under seal (Doc. Nos. 146, 147, and 148, respectively). NPA filed its reply. (Doc. No. 149 ["Reply"].) Upon the parties' joint request, the Court permitted supplemental briefs. (Doc. No. 227 ["Pl. Suppl. 1"]; Doc. No. 228 ["Def. Suppl. 1"].) On December 5 and 6, 2017, the Court conducted a hearing, accepting testimony and argument. (See Doc. Nos. 235 & 236 (Transcript ["Tr.1" and "Tr.2"].) Additional supplemental briefs were permitted post-hearing. (Doc. No. 237 ["Pl. Suppl. 2"]; Doc. No. 238 ["Def. Suppl. 2"].) For the reasons and in the manner discussed herein, the emergency motion is granted.

I. GENERAL BACKGROUND2

The parties to this lawsuit have had a very successful business relationship for decades. NPA operates Northfield Park Racetrack in Northfield, Ohio, as well as an adjacent "racino" with video lottery terminals ("VLTs"). OHHA represents the majority of owners, trainers, drivers, and grooms of Standardbred horses in Ohio, many of whom stable their horses and reside at the racetrack's backstretch, and many of whom also participate in harness horse racing events at the racetrack. Pursuant to the terms of an agreement between the parties, and under requirements of federal and state law, NPA deposits certain monies, including a percentage of its lottery agent commission for the VLTs, into a dedicated purse account, administered by NPA, for the purpose of paying purses for races at the track. In addition to accepting wagers on live harness racing, NPA exports the simulcast signal of live racing at NPA to other racetracks and off-track betting locations around the country, soliciting and accepting wagers on the NPA races. Under federal law, such wagering is permitted only with the consent of, among others, the applicable "horsemen's group," in this case, OHHA.

On July 12, 2016, OHHA filed this lawsuit against NPA. OHHA alleged various claims against NPA, all grounded in rights established by federal and state law, as well as by the Agreement between the parties entered into on November 19, 2014 and effective from December 16, 2013 until December 15, 2023. (See Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978, 15 U.S.C. § 3001, et seq. ("IHA"); Ohio Rev. Code Chapter 3769; Doc. No. 1-3 ["Agreement"].)

OHHA generally alleged3 that, because it was demanding that NPA cease misusing and mismanaging the purse account, cease engaging in export simulcast wagering without OHHA's statutorily-required consent, and cease refusing to disclose necessary wagering documents and information, NPA was threatening to shut down its simulcast signal on July 27, 2016 (because it only had consent through July 26, 2016), reducing purses to OHHA for all *826races starting August 1, 2016, and converting the track to a ship-in only facility (which means that the horsemen and horses could no longer live and work at NPA). OHHA alleged that these actions would be improper under the Agreement, as well as retaliatory, and that significant damage to OHHA and its members would result. The original complaint set forth seven counts, asserting various violations of the IHA (count I [lack of consent], count II [retaliation], and count III [declaration of right to full disclosure] ); breaches of fiduciary duty and trust (count IV [retaliation] and count V [waste, disloyalty, and lack of full disclosure] ); and breaches of contract (count VI [relating to the January-July 2016 Consent Agreement] and count VII [relating to the November 2014 Agreement] ).4

On July 21, 2016, OHHA filed a combined application for temporary restraining order and motion for preliminary injunction, seeking injunctive relief in connection with counts II and IV, both of which were claims of retaliation. OHHA's motion characterized NPA's intended actions as "threats of creating a death spiral that will leave both [NPA] and OHHA greatly diminished." (Doc. No. 12 at 536.) OHHA argued that its members would suffer irreparable (albeit avoidable) harm without injunctive relief, and that "the status quo should always be preserved to prevent fiduciary breaches." (Id. ) OHHA proposed an injunctive order that would have, inter alia , prohibited NPA from shutting down its export simulcast wagering signal, from failing to pay into the purse account OHHA's share of the host fees for the sale of the simulcast signal, from reducing purses offered for races, and from closing down NPA's barns and barn area by converting the premises into a ship-in only facility.

On July 22, 2016, NPA filed a motion for preliminary injunction and for temporary restraining order to be issued on or before July 26, 2016. NPA also argued that it would suffer irreparable harm by being forced to shut down its operation of interstate off-track wagering due to OHHA's improper withholding of consent, which NPA characterized as a breach of both the parties' Agreement and their historic practice. NPA argued OHHA's denial of consent was aimed at forcing renegotiation of the Agreement to provide more lucrative terms for OHHA, despite the fact that the Agreement prohibits renegotiation until the final year of its term (i.e. , 2023). NPA also sought to "maintain[ ] the long-standing status quo that has existed between the Parties since 1996." (Doc. No. 13 at 655.)

The Court promptly conducted several telephone conferences, followed by a hearing on July 26, 2016. Ultimately, the parties advised the Court that they had reached an agreement and submitted a proposed agreed order for the Court's approval. On July 26, 2017, the Court granted in part both motions for injunctive relief, and adopted the parties' proposed agreed order. On August 8, 2016, upon the parties' joint proposal, the Court entered an extended agreed order that modified the original agreed order only with respect to its effective dates, making it effective "from Wednesday, July 27, 2016, at 12:01 a.m. through and including a trial on the merits of this action[.]" (Doc. No. 21, Extended Agreed Order ["EAO"] at 1076.)

*827The gravamen of the EAO is expressed in four numbered paragraphs:

1. Northfield shall continue engaging in interstate off-track wagering, including the transmission of its simulcast signal to off-track betting facilities out-of-state, in the same manner as Northfield was doing prior to July 27, 2016;
2. Northfield shall continue to make payments to the "Northfield Park Purse Account" (as that term is defined in the parties' 2014 Agreement), from host fees generated through interstate off-track wagering in the same manner as it was doing prior to July 27, 2016;
3.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
288 F. Supp. 3d 823, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ohio-harness-horsemens-assn-inc-v-northfield-park-assocs-llc-ohnd-2017.