LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) — StubHub is asking a federal judge to end a lawsuit accusing it of racketeering.
Spotlight Ticket Management Inc. filed a complaint Dec. 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California Western Division against the ticket reselling website and Awin Global Affiliate Network alleging common law fraud, tortious interference, violation of the federal RICO statute, breach of contract, unjust enrichment and violation of California law.
Spotlight, which licenses software and hosts online ticket platforms for American Express, accused StubHub of running “a years-long campaign” to “underreport and misrepresent commissionable transactions” owed to affiliate network members. Spotlight, which claims it directed more than $84 million in sales to StubHub, also alleged StubHub interfered with its contract with American Express.
In a motion filed Feb. 18, StubHub said Spotlight’s lawsuit “contorts a straightforward business dispute into a sprawling 344 paragraphs including unsupported claims under the RICO statute.” It asked Judge Percy Anderson to dismiss the complaint with prejudice.
StubHub said Awin manages its affiliate program and tracks transactions eligible for commission through unique web links. It argued Spotlight’s complaint fails to offer sufficient details to support allegations StubHub and Awin worked together to underreport commissionable sales and said evidence shows both companies were pursuing individual economic interests.
Absent allegations of liability specific to each defendant, StubHub said the complaint should be dismissed for failing to meet standards of RICO claims.
“At most, Spotlight alleges only a single ongoing predicate act based on statements and omissions StubHub purportedly made to Spotlight concerning its affiliate sales transactions,” StubHub said, and although that allegation involves multiple wire communications, it still covers a single business condition and “does not establish a RICO pattern.”
StubHub also said Spotlight’s other claims should be dismissed for a lack of specific details, such as “alleging any facts to identify what commissions it purportedly did not receive, what market share it purportedly lost and whether the AmEx relationship actually changed as a direct and proximate result of this scheme.”
Representing StubHub are lawyers from Crowell & Moring, both the San Francisco and Los Angeles offices.
Spotlight is represented by Ann Mortimer and Jason Kim of Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP in Los Angeles.