At the end of June the South Carolina Court of Appeals handed down an opinion in the case of Rosen v. USC and the Gamecock Club. The case has received plenty of mentions but little in depth. Here is a link to the actual opinion. Or, if reading unpublished Court of Appeals Opinions isn’t how you like to spend your free time, here’s what you need to know about the case.
Backstory…In 1987 Harvey J. Rosen, Joseph B. Rosen and Rebecca Nurick (the Plaintiffs) paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $140,000.00 to become Lifetime Silver Spur members of the Gamecock Club. The membership entitled them to certain rights within the club, but exactly what those rights are or what they are to cost is what the lawsuit is about.
Before 2007 the Plaintiffs didn’t have to pay for parking at Williams-Brice. In 2007 the University starting charging for the spaces the Plaintiffs had been using. That’s when they brought the lawsuit.
The Suit Itself…The lawsuit basically asks the Court to determine two things. The main one is whether the Plaintiffs have to pay for parking. The second one concerns whether the Plaintiffs can change the named heir.
The Arguments…The Plaintiffs say that the contract doesn’t say whether the parking should be free or not, so it is ambiguous. If a contract is ambiguous, then the Court can determine what was intended. The Plaintiffs would then say that 20 years of free parking shows that the intent was that the parking be free.
The University argues that the contract doesn’t say free parking, so they are not obligated to provide free parking. They’ll also say if the contract is ambiguous the intent was the parking and tickets cost whatever the current customs, practices and usages of the Gamecock Club say they are. Essentially, the Plaintiffs bought a lifetime of no dues, but they’d still have to pay for everything else like everyone else.
Why is it moving from Court to Court…The first court (the trial court) decided the contract was not ambiguous, so it ruled for the University and said the case was over. The Court of Appeals listened to the same arguments and overruled the trial court. The Court of Appeals said that the contract is ambiguous, so it is open to interpretation. Then they said that the case needs to go back to trial court to interpret (basically to decide if the parking is to be free or not).
Where does it go now…It depends. The Court of Appeals sent it back to the trial court. Unless the Plaintiffs appeal to the State Supreme Court, the case will go back to the trial court. If the Plaintiffs appeal to the Supreme Court, the case could take a lot longer to finish and could still end up back in the the trial court.
Who is going to win…Two different courts have ruled differently, so it is tough to predict. If I was guessing, I’d say the Gamecock Club is going to win. The Plaintiffs are going to have to pay for parking, but who knows.
It is worth noting that no matter how the Courts eventually decide the case, it will really only affect those few members of the Gamecock Club who became lifetime members under that particular contract or one substantially similar to it. For the rest of the fan base, this is merely entertaining theater.
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