Caddies do not work for the PGA Tour. Their expenses are not covered by the Tour. They are not members of the PGA tour. But every day at every tour sponsored tournament, caddies wear bibs that advertise tour sponsors. And caddies don't get a dime for it. Negotiations with the Tour to rectify this inequity got nowhere, so the caddies filed a law suit.
More than 80 professional golf caddies have filed a $50 million lawsuit against the PGA tour alleging that the organization compelled them to wear corporate sponsored logos on bibs without compensation.
The filing claims that the PGA Tour officials threatened to prohibit caddies from participating in events if they did not wear the bibs featuring sponsor logos.
Additionally, it is alleged that these officials contacted tour players to determine if they would terminate contracts with caddies who did not wear the bibs.
"[Caddies] are made to serve as billboards to advertise, at the direction of the PGA Tour, for some of the most profitable companies in the world without compensation," the lawsuit states.
The value of the bib is estimated at $50 million annually. The caddies, headed by Mike Hicks who caddied for Payne Stewart and Steve Stricker, among others, seek the money they would have earned based on the market value of the bib endorsements.
Free riders include Traveler's Insurance.
Coca Cola,
MasterCard,
Waste Management,
BMW,
Wells Fargo,
Bridgestone,
John Deere,
Humana Healthcare,
Sony Electronics,
Hyundai Motors,
AT & T,
Honda Motors,
Quicken Loans,
Shell Oil,
FedEx, and
Deutsche Bank.
We support the caddies.
No comments:
Post a Comment