Published on: December 18, 2024, 07:47h.
Last updated on: December 18, 2024, 07:47h.
An arbitrator has ruled that more than 100 casinos involved in lawsuits against gaming device manufacturer Light & Wonder can be combined into a single class.
American Arbitration Association (AAA) arbitrator John Wilkinson made the decision last week. Their ruling, published yesterday, allows the casinos to proceed collectively as a single class in the lawsuit against Light & Wonder. The casinos argue that the company used flawed patent claims to establish a quasi-monopoly in the card-shuffling machine market. Light & Wonder contended that the claims of each plaintiff were too diverse to certify as a class, but Wilkinson disagreed.
Class arbitration is the fairest and most efficient method for resolving antitrust claims for proposed class members,” he wrote.
The initial litigation was initiated in 2020 by the Tonkawa Indians of Oklahoma, alleging that Scientific Games Corp., now Light & Wonder, was overcharging casinos for card-shuffling devices. The tribe claimed that the company had a monopoly over the market, stifling competition and coercing casinos to purchase its products.
AAA Finds Individual Litigation Impractical
Wilkinson stated that pursuing more than 100 separate cases against Light & Wonder would not be feasible.
“As required by AAA Class Rule 4(a), the proposed class in this case is so numerous that joinder of separate arbitrations for all members is impractical,” he explained. “There are approximately 112 members in this proposed class arbitration, exceeding the numerosity requirement set by Second Circuit courts, which presume numerosity for classes larger than 40 members.”
The arbitrator emphasized the importance of cost-effective proceedings for all parties and noted that addressing Light & Wonder’s claims regarding individual issues could be done through the class action.
Light & Wonder’s attorneys sought to overturn Wilkinson’s 2022 ruling in New York State Supreme Court, arguing that the arbitrator disregarded precedent and failed to recognize the unique contentions of each potential class member. In his new ruling, Wilkinson pointed out that the differences among class members were minimal and did not warrant decertifying the class.
Light & Wonder Also Facing Another Lawsuit
In addition to the AAA-arbitrated case, Light & Wonder is facing a similar lawsuit in federal district court in Chicago, where over 1,000 casinos have brought antitrust claims similar to those in the AAA case.
Previously known as Scientific Games, the company entered the card-shuffling device industry through its acquisition of Bally Technology for $5.1 billion in 2014. Before that, Bally Technology acquired SHFL Entertainment, the original maker of the Shuffle Master machine, in 2013.
SHFL Entertainment was known for vigorously defending its patents and was once ordered to pay $315 million to Shuffle Tech – a competitor that alleged SHFL put them out of business – after being acquired by Scientific Games.