Seat-License Lawsuit Settled
By Dan Klepal - The Cincinnati Enquirer
Settlement of the lawsuit filed by Bengals' season ticket holders unhappy with their seats in Paul Brown Stadium will cost Hamilton County taxpayers more than $2.5 million.
It also will cost the Bengals an unspecified amount, depending on how many fans want to give up their licenses and receive a refund. The Bengals have pledged an additional $125,000 to the settlement fund.
Reached Tuesday after more than eight hours of negotiations spread over two weeks, the settlement will end a lawsuit filed on behalf of six Bengals fans in September. The lawsuit now includes everyone who purchased the 41,219 seat licenses, which allowed the county to raise $24.5 million toward stadium construction.
The dispute centered on a claim that some fans purchased seat licenses - which ranged in price from $150 to $1,500 - to sit in a specific stadium zone but were actually seated in less-desirable areas.
Here's how the settlement works:
- Hamilton County will refund the difference between the seating zone for which fans paid and the price of the zone in which they were seated. For example, a fan who bought a license in zone C (at $900), but was seated in zone D (where the licenses sold for $480) would be due a $420 refund.
- Hamilton County will pay 10 percent interest on the refund amounts. The licenses were paid in three installments, the first of which was due in 1997.
- The Bengals will pay the $125,000 to a settlement fund and cover any administrative costs involved in resolving the suit.
- Fans seated in zones that they did not state as a preference in their original seat license application are entitled to refunds if they want to give up their licenses.
- The county will pay the difference between the two zones; the Bengals will cover the rest of the refund.
- There will be a relocation program for fans who want to move into the section of the stadium they originally paid for. All fans are eligible for the relocation program.
Carl Stich, a chief assistant prosecuting attorney, said there will not be enough seats for everyone to relocate.
"We have fewer seats available than we have people who overpaid," Mr. Stich said. "So we'll be able to handle some of them, not all of them."
Notices will be sent to each season ticket holder, at the Bengals' expense, explaining the settlement and their options. That mailing will be received by May 1.
A "fairness hearing," which will allow any season ticket holder who opposes the terms of the settlement to speak against it, has been rescheduled for May 8 before Common Pleas Court Judge Robert Ruehlman. That hearing will start at 2 p.m.
Bengals' attorney W. Stuart Dornette said the team needed to settle the matter so it could get on with the business of selling and printing tickets for the 2001 season.
"This is something that has needed to get done," Mr. Dornette said. "The tickets need to get printed, but beyond that it's the right thing to do for the ticket holders."
Janet Abaray, attorney for the fans, agrees. She said her law firm will get 20 percent of the refunds paid out.
"We feel that everybody who had monetary damage is getting a refund," she said.
The settlement is intended to satisfy people like Bud Cole, of Anderson Township, and Jean Huckaby, of Delhi Township.
Mr. Cole likes his seat in Paul Brown Stadium, but wants a refund because he should have been seated in section B - between the 30- and 40-yard lines - but was seated at the 15-yard line in section C. Ms. Huckaby doesn't want a refund, just a new seat in the section she paid for - section C.
"I was sacked for a 15-yard loss," said Mr. Cole, who was overcharged $1,680 for his four licenses. "But I want to keep my tickets because it's a family outing for us on Sundays."
