BENTON v. LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL, INC.

No. 1-19-0549.

181 N.E.3d 902 (2020)

2020 IL App (1st) 190549

Devona D. BENTON and Frank Jackson, Individually and on Behalf of Their Minor Child, J.B.; Robert S. Bufford Jr., Individually and on Behalf of His Minor Child, C.B.; Darold Butler Sr. and Donita Bruce, Individually and on Behalf of Their Minor Child, D.B.; Venisa Beasley-Green and Christopher Green, Individually and on Behalf of Their Minor Child, B.G.; Carlton A. Hondras II and Sheree Hondras, Individually and on Behalf of Their Minor Child, C.H.; Jerry F. Houston and Myrtle Houston, Individually and on Behalf of Their Minor Child, J.H.; Edward Howard III and Calandra Howard, Individually and on Behalf of Their Minor Child, E.H.; Linda Sneed Harris, Individually and on Behalf of Her Minor Child, M.J.; Nedra Jones and Alvin Jones, Individually and on Behalf of Their Minor Child, P.J.; Tammy King and Eddie King Sr., Individually and on Behalf of Their Minor Child, E.K.; Prentiss Luster and Darlene Luster, Individually and on Behalf of Their Minor Child, P.L.; Sanja E. Noble, Individually and on Behalf of Her Minor Child, L.N.; and Claudia Harvey, Individually and on Behalf of Her Minor Child, D.R., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL, INCORPORATED; Jackie Robinson West Little League, Inc., an Illinois Not-for-Profit Corporation; Bill Haley, Individually and as Agent and/or Employee of Jackie Robinson West Little League, Inc.; Annie Haley, Individually and as Agent and/or Employee of Jackie Robinson West Little League, Inc.; Evergreen Park Athletic Association, an Illinois Not-for-Profit Corporation; Chris Janes, Individually and as Agent and/or Employee of Evergreen Park Athletic Association; ESPN, Inc., a Delaware Corporation; and Stephen A. Smith, Individually and as Agent of ESPN, Inc., Defendants-Appellees.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Second Division.

Opinion filed June 30, 2020.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

James A. Karamanis , Kenneth A. Nazarian , and Emily A. Herbick , of Barney & Karamanis, LLP, of Chicago, for appellants.

Scott T. Schutte , Tedd M. Warden , and Tyler Zmick , of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, of Chicago, for appellee Little League Baseball, Inc.

Brian A. Sher and Demetria L. Hamilton , of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP, of Chicago, and Nathan E. Siegel , of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, of Washington, D.C., for appellees ESPN, Inc., and Stephen A. Smith.

Melinda S. Kollross and Paul V. Esposito , of Clausen Miller P.C., of Chicago, for appellees Jackie Robinson West Little League, Inc., Bill Haley, and Annie Haley.

No brief filed for other appellees.


OPINION

¶ 1 In August 2014, Jackie Robinson West, an all African-American baseball team from the south side of Chicago, won the United States Little League World Series (World Series) title. This event aired nationally on ESPN to much acclaim, causing these 10-, 11-...

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