Judge Orders Class Action Notice Be Sent To U.S. Open Referees

A federal judge today ordered a notice be sent to U.S. Open referees who have worked since '09 notifying them of a class action lawsuit against the USTA. The organization had asked the court not to issue the order until it could file a motion for summary judgment, meaning the judge could dismiss the case. The plaintiffs, who originally sued the USTA in '11 for back pay, wanted the class notice to go out before last year’s U.S. Open, but N.Y. federal judge Andrew Carter did not act on it until today.

The notice does not give the USTA a deadline of when to provide to the plaintiffs a list of referees who could be mailed the notice. The judge only ruled on the federal claims, which means a referee would have to opt in to the class action. There is also a separate New York state claim under which if a notice went out, the referees would then have to opt out. Hundreds of referees are alleged to have been short-changed in their pay under the complaint.