California Attorney General Rob Bonta has joined a coalition of 15 attorneys general urging a federal appeals court to revive an antitrust lawsuit brought by current and former junior hockey players who allege that Canadian leagues illegally carved up North America into exclusive recruiting territories.
The case — World Association of Icehockey Players Unions North America Division v. National Hockey League — was dismissed earlier this year by a federal judge in Washington state, who ruled the defendants lacked sufficient ties to the state and that the conduct at issue spanned the entire continent, raising issues of international comity.
In a new amicus brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Bonta and the multistate coalition argue that the dismissal threatens future antitrust enforcement by allowing conspirators to escape liability simply because their conduct crosses state or national borders.
“Dividing a labor market is just as anticompetitive as dividing a product market,” Bonta said in a statement. “Antitrust violations know no borders, and enforcement to stop these violations shouldn’t be unjustly limited either. Failing to reverse this decision would jeopardize states’ ability to protect our residents in multistate and international cases.”
The lawsuit alleges that the three major Canadian junior hockey leagues — which serve as a primary talent pipeline to the NHL — agreed not to recruit players from one another’s regions, suppressing wages and limiting opportunities for young athletes. The plaintiffs argue the scheme harmed players across both the United States and Canada.
The district court found that the defendants, many based in Canada, did not have sufficient “minimum contacts” with Washington to establish personal jurisdiction, even though the alleged territorial allocation covered all of North America, including Washington.
In their brief, the attorneys general warn that such reasoning could incentivize companies or organizations to design anticompetitive schemes that span multiple jurisdictions to evade suit in any single one. They argue that states must retain authority to challenge conduct that harms their residents, regardless of where conspirators are headquartered.
Alongside Bonta, attorneys general from Washington, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the District of Columbia signed onto the filing.
The Ninth Circuit will now consider whether to reinstate the case.
