College basketball official John Higgins has filed a federal civil lawsuit against a Kentucky-based media company and its owners, alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, tortious interference with a business, and civil conspiracy, The Athletic has learned.
In the lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Nebraska, the plaintiffs, which include Higgins, his wife, Carol, and his company, Weatherguard, allege that Kentucky Sports Radio and its operators, Matt Jones and Drew Franklin, shared Higgins’ personal and business information online and on the radio, causing harm to his family and his business. The claim calls for an award of damages in excess of $75,000, with a specific amount to be determined at trial.
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Higgins’ company, Weatherguard, which is based in Nebraska, was allegedly subjected to thousands of threatening phone calls and voice messages from Kentucky fans, including death threats against Higgins and his family, following his work in an Elite Eight game between Kentucky and North Carolina in 2017. The Wildcats lost, 75-73.
Higgins declined to comment. After The Athletic reported the lawsuit, Jones wrote on his Twitter feed, “The Higgins lawsuit against KSR is frivolous and without any legal merit whatsoever. We will defend it and expect a favorable result quickly.”
The lawsuit alleges that Kentucky fans directed more than “800 threatening, vulgar, or harassing voicemail messages received on the Weatherguard phone lines,’’ and “30 such threatening, vulgar or harassing messages received on the Higgins’ family home phone line” at Higgins, his family or his business. Those threats were turned over to local law enforcement officials, and the Sarpy County sheriff determined that a “full dozen rose to the level of an actual threat of death or bodily injury and that he would pursue a criminal investigation,” according to the lawsuit.
Among the specific threats cited: ““You enjoy your life before somebody kills you,’’ and “You hear that garbage truck in the background over there? Wish you were in it personally.’’
Following the South Regional final game, fans began posting criticisms on message boards, including a video of calls made by Higgins that they claimed were incorrect. Franklin wrote a post for the Kentucky Sports Radio (KSR) website headlined, “No More Higgins, Please,’’ arguing that Kentucky had lost five of eight games Higgins had officiated.
A Vimeo montage on one message board (not KSR) showing supposed bad calls by Higgins ended with a picture of Higgins next to a Weatherguard truck. Alongside the photograph was the company’s phone number, website address, as well as the Higgins’ home phone number. That video eventually found its way onto the KSR website.
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The lawsuit also alleges that Jones and Franklin allowed commenters on KSR to post links to Weatherguard’s website on the KSR website and its Facebook page. Jones also repeatedly referenced – and even spelled out – the company’s website name on a radio show that he hosts.
Over the next two days, Weatherguard received more than 3,000 harassing phone calls and thousands of negative online reviews, according to the lawsuit, causing its Google reviews ratings to plummet. The company eventually took down its Facebook page. “Because of the non-stop harassing calls, Weatherguard’s bona fide customers and prospective customers could not get through to the business, resulting in loss of business and income for Weatherguard. This continued for up to two weeks,” the lawsuit alleges.
Jones, the lawsuit claims, argued that much of the reaction was “over the top,’’ yet read several of the commenters’ posts over the air, laughing at some. The KSR website also published several of the Weatherguard Facebook page comments word for word, with the caveat:
“We here at KentuckySportsRadio.com do not condone the activity from Big Blue Nation on John Higgins’s roofing company’s Facebook page.
“But like Big Blue Nation, we are still upset over some of Higgins’ calls in the UK-UNC game, so we can and will read the activity on the Facebook page.”
As a result, the lawsuit states, law enforcement officials patrolled outside of Higgins’ company and his home.
Over the past month, several of Higgins’ colleagues expressed outrage at the response from Kentucky fans. They told The Athletic that the fan reaction was far from normal.
“It was the most vitriolic outpouring of whatever you want to call it, crap, I’ve ever been aware of since I’ve been in the game,’’ said former NCAA director of officials John Adams. “And anyone who says it was normal is wrong. It was unprecedented.’’
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Added retired college official Tim Higgins (not related to John), who spent more than 30 years working games, “I’ve never heard of anything like this. I’ve had people in the press call me out and people boo at me games. But to attack my business and threaten my family? No, that never happened to me.’’
In August, John Higgins was to be honored by the National Association of Sports Officials with its ‘Great Call Award,’ at the organization’s annual meeting, to be held in Louisville. But citing security concerns, officials advised Higgins not to attend the meeting in person. He will receive his award at a later date.
Earlier this week Higgins was named the Naismith Official of the Year, an honor that didn’t go unnoticed in Kentucky.
“Congratulations to John on his award, which I assume was decided by North Carolina basketball fans,’’ Franklin wrote on the KSR website.
(Top photo: Charlie Neibergall/AP)
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