Two anglers are suing a fishing tournament organizer after their checks bounced. They still haven't got their winnings, and they're beyond frustrated.
The two are suing American Bass Anglers for fraud after not getting paid. Previously, ABA's president Morris Sheehan blamed it on a banking issue. Several anglers didn't get paid after the tournament. Now, two of those fishermen are suing the organizer. Speaking with Outdoor Life, attorney Joe Durham Jr. spoke out about the case. He's representing the two fishermen and says that the ABA has a pattern of doing this.
He claims that more than 40 anglers reached out to say that their checks from ABA bounced. Some of those are still waiting to be paid, according to the lawyer. Following the backlash, ABA updated its payment to all cash payouts moving forward for events.
"A gentleman called me today who just yesterday [June 4, had] a check [bounce] from the ABA," he says. "This was from a recent tournament on Lake Lainier."
Anglers Want Their Money
"These are military gentlemen, and they're both a bit older. And one of them said to me that he wants to prevent this from happening to a young, active-duty soldier in the future," Durham also added. "These guys might get two weeks of leave in a year, and they take one of their weeks to go practice and fish in a tournament. They finish high enough to get money, and then they don't get paid? And they still haven't been paid."
The attorney is planning more court filings to account for additional complaints from affected fishermen. He believes that he may have a class-action lawsuit on his hands.
"We're talking well over $100,000," Durham said. "There is one client of mine who had a check for roughly $12,000 bounce after a tournament in February, and they sent him a follow-up check that bounced as well. Okay, so they told him, 'Hey, we're going to wire you the money.' And as of today, he still hasn't been paid."
The attorney accused the tournament organizer of not paying back but half of what they collect in entry fees.
"The important thing here, now, is that ABA is not paying back but about 50 percent of the entry fees they collect. So there really is no excuse," he said of the tournament and anglers. "In the military tournament, they paid back 40 percent of the entry fees they collected ... Where's the money?"
