View topic - Sponsor dumps Mendy - He sues

[thesteelhammer Profile]

ESPN is reporting that Pittsburgh Steelers RB Rashard Mendenhall has filed a lawsuit against Champion, seeking more than $1 million after the company ended its endorsement contract with him in May after his controversial tweets following the death of Osama bin Laden. "This case involves the core question of whether an athlete employed as a celebrity endorser loses the right to express opinions simply because the company whose products he endorses might disagree with some (but not all) of those opinions," the lawsuit reads.

[Steel Holiday Profile]

The stones it must take to 'tweet'. don't got'em.

I'd expect Mendy to win this legal matter. Guy 'tweeted' This country is supposed to be about freedom of speech. Not, freedom to speak only if you are willing to be a sheep.

Champion is being hypocritical, but then again how sharp could a clothing company be, which promotes an underwear line, to endorse someone nick named "Shard"

[Steelers76 Profile]

I really wish people would get "The Freedom Of Speech" thing right. All it ensures is that The Government can't punish you. Champion is not The Government. A Private Company who Retard Mendenhall choose to work for can. He should lose this lawsuit, and maybe he'll learn from now on to keep his stupid, ignorant, ill-informed mouth shut on matters he obviously knows nothing about.

[Steel Holiday Profile]

As you say, Champion isn't the government, so it makes little sense for them to get critical over politics. Champ-e-yawn was probably looking to cut ties with Shard after his crucial fumble at the Super Bowl. The negative perception of this publicity was what it needed to gracefully separate the professional relationship with one another. Just business.

Mendenhall shares his opinion on a controversial topic. So. If more people intelligently would follow his example then those who create controversy to begin with would be forced to cut the crap. Somebody had to have once said that the Patriots couldn't win a Super Bowl without "cheating". Did New England gain a competitive advantage from 'Spy Gate'? The evidence has been destroyed, and the majority of fans will never be subjected to the truth. Yet, the Patsies certainly haven't won anything since being exposed. Rashard making comments shouldn't have a negative effect you, that is unless the media's opinion is able to influence your opinion on what is right and wrong.

[isfry Profile]

I really wish people would get "The Freedom Of Speech" thing right. All it ensures is that The Government can't punish you. Champion is not The Government. A Private Company who Retard Mendenhall choose to work for can. He should lose this lawsuit, and maybe he'll learn from now on to keep his stupid, ignorant, ill-informed mouth shut on matters he obviously knows nothing about.

While I agree with the "only the Government can be held to violate one's Constitutional rights" vein, a few things leap to my mind about this issue. One, whether Mendy is informed or ill-informed, right or wrong, is irrelevant. He ought to have at least wondered whether tweeting controversial issues could affect how his sponsor(s) look at him and, thus, his paycheck. Perhaps running these sorts of things by his PR agent prior to letting them loose on the public would be wise. That having been said (and I am in no way endorsing these views) Rashard Mendenhall is certainly not the first person to postulate that 911 was a hoax and the Bush admin was in on it. (see Michael Moore) The critical difference is that Michael Moore makes money off selling movie tickets to people who share his views. Champion (and thus all of its sponsees) makes money off selling products to everybody and, thus does not want to take a stand on anything that would alienate any of its consumers.

I guess my point is that our country is as quick to laud the likes of Michael Moore as brave, groundbreaking, and maverick as we are to label the likes of Rashard Mendenhall as stupid, ignorant, and ill-informed. I dont care if Rashard can cure cancer or split the atom, myself. I just want him to hang onto the damn ball.

[steelandblood Profile]

I think the point is being missed here. It's not about the constitution. As said above, in business deals, one can agree to a clause about saying things in the press or other media that could possibly damage the company endorsing the player. He may have a case because the way his endorsement contract is worded may not cover the range of his comments, or the venue in which he made them. Since Champion and Mendy are in apparent litigation, there's obviously a dispute over whether the *wording in the contract* covers his twitter statements. Mendenhall's human rights aren't being violated here, since he signed a contract agreeing to hold his tongue and maintain good conduct within certain perameters. The issue is if he violated the contract with Champion or not by tweeting what he did.

[isfry Profile]

"Since Champion and Mendy are in apparent litigation, there's obviously a dispute over whether the *wording in the contract* covers his twitter statements."

Valid points, S & B, but I feel inclined to disagree wuith the above statement. Just because someone files a suit on something or decides to litigate it, DOES NOT necessarily mean they have a valid legal or factual argument. That's just not true. Someoene filed a suit in Federal Court and "litigated" whether or not Barack Obama was born in Hawaii or Kenya. If you have the money and the balls, you can litigate anything. There's plenty of attorneys out there who would do worse for the money.

[steelandblood Profile]

"Since Champion and Mendy are in apparent litigation, there's obviously a dispute over whether the *wording in the contract* covers his twitter statements."

Valid points, S & B, but I feel inclined to disagree wuith the above statement. Just because someone files a suit on something or decides to litigate it, DOES NOT necessarily mean they have a valid legal or factual argument. That's just not true. Someoene filed a suit in Federal Court and "litigated" whether or not Barack Obama was born in Hawaii or Kenya. If you have the money and the balls, you can litigate anything. There's plenty of attorneys out there who would do worse for the money.

Of course just because he sues doesn't mean he has a real case. He could be banking that they'd rather settle out of court rather than field the cost of fighting the suit, etc. The point is that other posters just assume he has no valid argument at all. He still could, but beyond speculation, we can't say for sure unless we're able to view Mendenhall's contract with Champion.

[isfry Profile]

S & B - I agree. completely. now we just need to figure out how to shed the 9/11 curse Mendy has brought on us...