Federal Lawsuit Filed on Behalf of Basketball Icon Lynette Woodard
A federal lawsuit has been filed against the Harlem Globetrotters by Bailey & Glasser, LLP on behalf of Lynette Woodard—the first woman to play for the iconic exhibition basketball team. Bailey Glasser partners Michael L. Murphy and Elliott C. McGraw are leading the legal team protecting Ms. Woodard’s legal rights related to her name, image and likeness. Our co-counsel is Michael Clohisy.
Ms. Woodard is a sports icon who was the first woman to play with the Harlem Globetrotters beginning in 1986, which made her the first woman to ever play for a men’s professional basketball team.
A four-time All-American at the University of Kansas, Ms. Woodard captained the gold-medal-winning 1984 U.S. Olympic basketball team, competed in the WNBA, and played professionally across Europe and Japan. Her contributions to the sport have earned her a place in multiple halls of fame, including the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, the Women’s Sports Hall of Fame, and the African American Hall of Fame, among others.
Our lawsuit claims the Globetrotters breached the terms of their agreement by failing to pay Woodard her contractual share—25% of net merchandising revenue—for products using her likeness which she never authorized.
As set forth in our complaint: “By their own account, respondents named the 'Lynette' fleece sweatsuit after Ms. Woodard to take advantage of her iconic status as the first woman Harlem Globetrotter and to falsely imply her endorsement. Ms. Woodard never gave permission to defendants to use her name or persona.”
The filing of this lawsuit follows a pre-action petition against the iconic basketball team seeking a subpoena to obtain her 1986 Globetrotters contract and apparel contract. Prior to filing the petition, the Globetrotters had failed to voluntarily produce it to Ms. Woodard despite relying on it for using her name and persona on various clothing items. This petition, under New York law, would allow Woodard to obtain “pre-action discovery” before filing an official complaint.
The case is Woodard v. UNDRCRWN LLC et al., case number 1:25-cv-05415, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
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