Hilliard Martinez Gonzales, LLP: Mother Of NBA G League Player Zeke Upshaw, Who Died On The Basketball Court Last Year, Pounds Back At NBA, Detroit Pistons' Motions To Dismiss

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- On Friday, counsel for Plaintiff Jewel Upshaw, the mother of NBA G League Player Zeke Upshaw who died on the basketball court in March 2018 after suffering a sudden cardiac event and being left effectively untreated for several minutes while playing for the Grand Rapids Drive in Grand Rapids, Michigan, filed scathing oppositions to motions to dismiss her case filed by the NBA and the Detroit Pistons last December.

"The NBA seeks to escape liability for Zeke's death and for Jewel's independent claims as a mother forced to witness the shocking events that caused Zeke's death by arguing that all of the claims are barred by Michigan's Disability Worker's Compensation Act," the opposition to the NBA's motion reads. "Zeke, deprived of oxygen for nearly four minutes on live television and approximately forty-four minutes in toto, ultimately died as a result of Defendants' conduct . . . . The shocking nature of the NBA's and others' conduct and omissions is reflected by the fans' frantic gestures for someone to help Zeke—help that did not come."

Robert C. Hilliard, attorney for Plaintiff Jewel Upshaw, said in a statement, "It is insulting how the NBA attempts to dodge liability from their horrific wrongdoing by filing a workers' compensation claim weeks after Zeke's death so that it can now falsely argue that the Michigan Workers' Compensation Agency has 'exclusive authority' over Jewel Upshaw's claims for her son's death. The fact of the matter is, Zeke was not 'employed by' the NBA or the Detroit Pistons – he was employed by Basketball Services Corporation, the entity who contracted for his services, provided for his workers' compensation coverage, and assigned him to play for the Grand Rapids Drive. Moreover, Jewel's independent claims for having to watch her son die on live television are certainly not subject to Workers' Compensation exclusivity, as those claims are unquestionably unique to her."

The NBA and the Pistons also assert that, if Plaintiff Jewel Upshaw's claims do go forward, they must be sent to arbitration pursuant to Zeke's Player Contract. However, Hilliard explains that, "Neither Jewel Upshaw, the NBA, nor the Detroit Pistons were actual parties to the arbitration agreement, and furthermore the agreement is so narrow that even if Zeke had lived past the tragic event and brought claims on his own behalf they would not have been subject to arbitration. Now the NBA and Pistons want to force my client to arbitrate claims she never agreed to arbitrate stemming from an agreement that none of them actually agreed to."

The case is Upshaw v. NBA et al., No. 2:18-cv-13301-TGB-SDD, pending in the Eastern District of Michigan before Judge Terrence G. Berg.

Plaintiff Jewel Upshaw is represented by Robert C. Hilliard of Hilliard Martinez Gonzales, LLP, Ben Crump of Ben Crump Law, and Courtney Morgan of Morgan & Meyers, PLC.
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Hilliard Martinez Gonzales LLP (HMG) specializes in personal injury, mass torts, product liability, commercial and business litigation, and wrongful death. The firm has represented victims of child injuries and daycare deaths in Texas. For over two decades, the firm has been appointed by Judges in Texas and around the country to lead class actions, including the single largest litigation in US history, GM's ignition switch defect litigation. Bob Hilliard has tried over 100 jury trials and obtained the Largest Verdict in the country in 2012 and the #1 verdict in Texas.

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