Former NBA referee wins $1.3 million lawsuit against publisher – NBA News
Disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy has won a lawsuit worth $1.3 million against the company that published a book based on his memoirs from the NBA.
Donaghy had sued Shawna Vercher and her company, VTi Group, alleging that he is yet to be paid the royalty of the story based in him. Shawna’s company published Donaghy’s book about NBA referees in 2010.
“My four daughters are thrilled that the truth surrounding the disappearance of the profits of my book Personal Foul is officially on record. It was a long wait, but it feels terrific knowing that we prevailed and we are moving
forward with the truth on our side,” said a delighted Donaghy who also added that the Jury returned with the verdict very quickly.
Shawna was reached for comments after the verdict but said that she could not comment in great detail about the judgement as she had been asked by her attorneys to maintain silence.
She however said that an appeal to the decision will come quickly.
"This turned into more of a sideshow than we had hoped," said Vercher.
Donaghy had spent 13 months in prison after admitting to have taken thousands of dollars from a gambler in return for inside tips on the game. He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in wire fraud. He then came on a TV show
in 2009 and admitted that he had made waivers on NBA games based on his knowledge of other referees biases towards players and teams.
He however said that he had never fixed a game and never compromised on his officiating. The FBI undertook an investigation regarding his possible affiliation with match fixing or other related activities, but cleared him of any
wrongdoing.
"Watching the tapes, we could see there was never anything outlandish where he called a foul or he omitted a foul because he wanted to see a certain team win. We never saw that,” said retired FBI special agent Philip Scala.
The case had been registered in Pinellas County Civil Court in Florida and Donaghy sued her for $1.3 million in unpaid money according to the agreement between the two parties.
The jury charged Vercher and her company with conspiracy to commit civil theft, intentional infliction of emotional distress and tortuous interference with business relations.
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