10/23/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/24/2024 10:13
In an antitrust lawsuit aimed at reversing the Ivy League's seventy-year policy of only offering need-based aid, Sullivan & Cromwell earned a victory for client Harvard University in a lawsuit filed against Harvard, the Ivy League and all of Ivy League's member universities.
Former Brown University basketball players and plaintiffs Tamenang Choh and Grace Kirk alleged that Harvard, the Ivy League, and the seven other universities that comprise the Ivy League violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act due to the Ivy League's policy of awarding only need-based aid. The case was brought in the wake of the Supreme Court's 2021 decision in National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston, which held that the NCAA's restrictions on education-related benefits for Division I football and basketball players violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act.
The Ivy League and its member universities moved to dismiss the complaint, as the policies reflect the schools' legitimate purpose of treating all students equally.
In a complete win for the defendants, Judge Alvin Thompson of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut dismissed the complaint on October 9, noting, "The deficiencies in the Complaint that are the basis for granting the motion to dismiss are substantive in nature, and nothing in the plaintiff's papers suggests that they could amend the Complaint to overcome these substantive deficiencies."
S&C partners Diane McGimsey and Renata Hesse led the effort, advising Harvard University in the case.
Other successful sports litigation matters we have advised on include: