A detail view of the brand new Washington Commanders uniforms following the announcement of the Washington Football Team renaming the Washington Commanders at FedExField on February 2, 2022 in Landover, Maryland.
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Washington NFL Commanders to Pay $625,000 to Settle Allegations Filed by Washington Attorney General That Organization Did Not Refund Fans’ Ticket Deposits, AG Office announced on Monday.
Former DC Attorney General Karl Racine sued the commanders in November, alleging that the team defrauded DC residents of security deposits collected from season ticket holders and used the cash for their very own ends. The lawsuit also claimed that the band “deliberately complicated the return process by imposing additional, onerous conditions that had not been properly disclosed beforehand.”
Racine claimed Commanders had been selling tickets to DC fans for premium seats since 1996, sometimes requiring a deposit. While the band promised ticket holders they’d get their deposits back inside 30 days of their contracts expiring, Racine claimed the band had been hiding money, sometimes for greater than a decade, and spending it.
A spokesman for the commanders said in a press release that the team had not collected security deposits in greater than a decade and had been “actively working to return any remaining deposits since 2014.”
“We’re pleased to have reached an agreement with the DC Attorney General on this matter and can work with the office to fulfill our commitments to our fans,” the spokesperson said.
The team denied wrongdoing in settling the claims.
Under the settlement, Commanders can pay greater than $200,000 to affected DC fans, in addition to $425,000 DC for “restitution, attorney’s fees, costs related to the investigation, and contributions to the District Litigation Support Fund,” in keeping with the news, to fireplace Attorney General Brian Schwalb from office , who has since replaced Racine.
The agreement stipulates that commanders must conduct a public search of affected fans and try and notify them in a number of ways, including by phone and email. The team will even be required to prominently disclose the refund process on its website and supply “regular reports” to the Attorney General’s office documenting attempts to refund affected fans.
In a press release accompanying the settlement, Schwalb said the Attorney General’s office “will maintain close oversight of commanders” to make sure fans are duly reimbursed for the complete refund they’re entitled to.
“Our office takes seriously its duty to implement DC consumer protection laws by holding to account anyone who tries to make the most of the District’s consumers,” he added.
Commanders have been hit by several allegations of misconduct from contained in the team office in recent years. In 2022, a report by the House Oversight and Reform Committee found that the NFL and commanders had misled the general public over an investigation into long-standing misconduct on the team’s workplace.