Nash wins fitness-club case appeal
Former NBA star Steve Nash has won his appeal of a ruling that threw out his lawsuit seeking to have his name removed from a chain of fitness facilities.
In October 2016, Nash filed suit in B.C. Supreme Court alleging that there had been a breach of contract between his holding company, B&L Holdings Inc., and SNFW Fitness B.C. Ltd., which runs the clubs.
He sought an injunction that would prevent SNFW from using his name or image in the future, as well as an award in damages.
But the defendants applied to have the case dismissed before it could go to trial and in a ruling released in August 2017 B.C. Supreme Court Justice Nitya Iyer agreed with the defendants that Nash’s notice of civil claim had failed to disclose a proper cause of action. The judge concluded that Nash’s claim that SNFW’s continued use of the Nash endorsement was unlawful raised no genuine issue for trial and summarily dismissed the suit.
Nash appealed the judge’s findings and in a ruling released Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the B.C. Court of Appeal overturned the lower court’s ruling dismissing the case.
In his reasons for judgment, B.C. Court of Appeal Justice Richard Goepel noted that the underlying issue in the litigation was whether under California law a business can continue to use the endorsement of a celebrity when the celebrity is no longer using the business’s product.
In November 2006, Nash’s holding company had entered into an agreement with Vancouver Bay Clubs Ltd., creating a licensing deal allowing the use of Nash’s name on the clubs until March 2022. Court heard that the licensing agreement was to be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the state of California.
Nash became a shareholder and director of the firm that operated the facilities.
But since October 2014, following several financial transactions that resulted in SNFW taking over operation of the fitness clubs, Nash’s holding company no longer has an equity participation in the fitness clubs and Nash himself has ceased to be a director or play any role in the clubs.
Nash claimed that under California law the use of his endorsement after October 2014 was unlawful and as a matter of public policy the court must prevent SNFW from exercising their rights under the licence agreement.