What’s a Judge to a Wizard: An Analysis of the Class Action Lawsuit Between the Judges and the Wizards of the Coast, LLC; Whether a Judge is Really a Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Volunteer, Unpaid Intern, or Actual Employee?
Stephen C. Jimenez
A bunch of judges are suing a bunch of wizards.[1] Wizards of the Coast, LLC (“Wizards”), is a
company that makes multiple card and board games, one of which is called
Magic: The Gathering (“Magic”).[2] Magic is
“a completely modular card game, where instead of buying one set or box, each
player . . . collect[s] and curate[s] his or her cards of differing rarity into
a personalized deck to face off against their opponent.”[3] There
are multiple nation and worldwide competitions where players compete to win
cash prizes and become recognized as the best Planeswalker.[4] At
these major competitions, there are “judges” that resolve rule disputes between
the competing players.[5] Wizards maintains control
over most of the bigger competitions where the judges play this role of
facilitating games.[6] Wizards of the Coast,
however, has no real protocol for paying these judges, and thus a group of
judges filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the
Northern District of California, asserting state and federal claims for, among
other things, unpaid wages.[7] In their
public response to the suit, Wizards characterized the judges as volunteers.[8] The court will likely look to the amount of
control that Wizards exerts over the judges to determine whether they are
employees of Wizards when it comes to the judges’ state-based claims under
California law, as this is the current analysis in California.[9]
[1]. Class
Action Complaint & Demand for Jury Trial, Shaw v. Wizards of the Coast,
LLC, 2016 WL 1593819 (N.D. Cal. April 12, 2016) (No. 3:16-cv-01924-LB).
[2]. Wizards
of the Coast, Wizards Responds to Lawsuits, Wizards.com (Apr. 20, 2016)
http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/wizards-responds-lawsuits-2016-04-20
(“Wizards of the Coast LLC, [is] a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. . . . . [Wizards]
brings to market a range of gaming experiences under powerful brand names such
as MAGIC: THE GATHERING, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, and DUEL
MASTERS.”).
[3]. Titus
Chalk, 20 Years of Magic: The Gathering, a Game that Changed
the World, Sabotage Times (July
30, 2013), http://sabotagetimes.com/life/20-years-of-magic-the-gathering-a-game-that-changed-the-world; Magic
Is Lore, Wizards.com,
http://magic.wizards.com/en/content/new-to-magic/lore (“At the heart of Magic’s many
stories are the Planeswalkers—powerful mages with the ability to travel between
worlds. . . . As a player, you are one such Planeswalker. . . .”).
[4]. Chalk, supra note
3 (“[Wizards] launched Magic’s very own ‘Pro Tour’—an event that would
reward the winner of an annual tournament series with tens of thousands of
dollars, adding up to millions of dollars in prizes each year.”).
[5]. Mark
Brown, Become a Magic Judge, Magic
Judge, http://blogs.magicjudges.org/o/become-a-magic-judge/ (last
visited July 3, 2016) (“Judges are neutral arbiters of the game . . . . If you
are already the player that everyone asks [rules] questions then you’re acting
the way most judges do . . . .”).
[6]. Wizards
of the Coast, supra note 2 (Wizards maintains direct
control over “the Pro Tour, the World Magic Cup, and the Magic World
Championship . . . .”).
[7]. Class
Action Complaint & Demand for Jury Trial, Shaw v. Wizards of the Coast,
LLC, 2016 WL 1593819 (N.D. Cal. April 12, 2016) (No. 3:16-cv-01924-LB)
Plaintiffs and the putative class hereby seek compensation for
unpaid minimum and overtime wages, missed meal and rest breaks, failure to
timely pay wages, failure to furnish timely and accurate wage statements,
failure to maintain accurate payroll records, unreimbursed business expenses,
for interest and penalties thereon, and for reasonable attorneys' fees and
costs pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 29 U.S.C. § 201, et
seq., Cal. Labor Code §§ 218.5, 226, 1194, 2699, 2802 . . . .
Id. at 2.
[8]. Wizards
of the Coast, supra note 2 (“Fans choose to become judges out
of a sincere love of the game and as a way to enjoy their favorite hobby.”).
[9]. Cal. Code Regs. tit. 8, § 11040
(2002); See Martinez v. Combs, 231 P.3d 259, 278, 282 (Cal.
2010); see also Benjamin v. B & H Educ., Inc., No.
13-cv-04993-VC, slip op. at 2 (N.D. Cal. filed Oct. 16, 2015).
