Pac-12 Can Continue Team-Poaching Lawsuit Against Mountain West

The Pac-12 Conference can proceed with a lawsuit against the Mountain West Conference, after a judge said the Pac-12 adequately pleaded a “per se” violation of antitrust law.

Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen of the US District Court for the Northern District of California on Tuesday denied the Mountain West’s motion to dismiss, meaning the Pac-12 can move forward on discovery in a case alleging MWC saddled it with a financial penalty that limited its ability to recruit and accept new member schools.

“Here, the Complaint adequately pleads a plausible case for application of the per se rule,” van Keulen ...