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Steroid use, Texas Lemon Law, and the Texas DTPA

When you buy a new car or other consumer product, you expect to get what you pay for…you expect to not have to sue the car manufacturer under a Texas Lemon Law claim. You make your decision based on specifications and advertisements produced by the manufacturers and distributors. You evaluate your options and consider what features are important to you and how much you are willing to spend. All of this is pretty well known and standard when you are buying a car or a blender or a couch, but what happens when you are paying for entertainment?

One fan of the New York Yankees is suing the team after evidence of steroid use by several of their players came to light in the Mitchell report on drugs in sports. Specifically, Matthew Mitchell, a long time fan, is seeking $221 in repayment for tickets he purchased claiming that the behavior of the team is akin to consumer fraud.

Similar to a typical Texas Lemon Law related case, Mr. Mitchell is seeking refund of his ticket price for five games in which pitcher Andy Pettitte was involved. Mr. Pettitte was named in the Mitchell report and has admitted to using human growth hormones, though he claimed that this was used to hasten healing after an injury – not to enhance on field performance.

Mr. Mitchell believed that he was buying tickets to baseball games during which his favorite players would be competing naturally – without chemical enhancement. He feels that this is the position that was put forth by the team, and that, given the widespread steroid use, this was a misrepresentation on the part of the team. The case was filed in small claims court in Brooklyn.

We will keep you posted as to the outcome. So far as we know, no such case has been put forward against our local Dallas team, the Texas Rangers.

Consumer fraud can take all forms and may be present in many different types of consumer transactions. If you believe that you have been the victim of consumer fraud with respect to your new car, we may be able to help you. For more information, visit our web site at www.texaslemon.com

This article was written by C. Fischer. Mr. Fischer is a consultant to my office.

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