Professional golf caddies filed an appeal in a California PGA Tour lawsuit, seeking to overturn a ruling that dismissed claims by 168 caddies against the PGA Tour Inc. initially asserting they were treated like “human billboards” without pay.
The lawsuit alleges that the PGA Tour is violating federal antitrust laws in addition to breaching its contracts with the caddies and reaping illegal profits by coercing them to advertise for the Tour for no money. The caddies also said their likenesses and images have been unlawfully used by the Tour in its advertising.
The case was originally filed in Jan. 2015 on behalf of professional caddie Michael Hicks and others who were allegedly forced to wear aprons, also called “bibs,” which cover their shirts and include logos of Tour sponsors. The case put forth that the bibs covered valuable real estate on the caddies’ shirts that they otherwise could use to secure their own sponsors.
The lawsuit also says the Tour receives more than $50 million in bib sponsorships annually although the caddies receive none of that money. Caddies are employed by Tour players and not the Tour, which does not provide caddies with any health insurance, retirement or other benefits.
“When the world’s leading sports network says the PGA Tour treats caddies like ‘outside dogs,’ then you know there is a problem,” said attorney Richard D. Meadow of The Lanier Law Firm, who represents the caddies. “Sure, caddies are told they can have their own sponsors, but what good does that do if they’re forced to cover their shirts with other sponsors who are paying them nothing and instead putting tens of millions of dollars in the Tour’s pocket?”
The caddies’ claims were dismissed in Feb. by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, but the June 15 filing in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals argues that the dismissal was made in error.
The case is William Michael Hicks, et al. v. PGA Tour Inc., No. 16-15370.
