BREAKING NEWS: TASO files lawsuit against the UIL

[HoopInsider_Cooper]

Austin, Tex.  – The Texas Association of Sporting Officials (TASO) has filed suit in Travis County District Court to block the University Interscholastic League (UIL) from what TASO sees as an illegal and unauthorized takeover of sports officiating in Texas. The lawsuit charges that the UIL not only is attempting to exercise powers that it does not possess, but that its proposed rule changes would create monopoly control over sports officiating and impose an illegal occupation tax.

The attempted takeover marks a serious rift in an otherwise cooperative relationship that has spanned 33 years. Until now, Section 1204 of the UIL’s constitution and contest rules has recommended that schools use officials registered with TASO for their varsity games. At the UIL’s Legislative Council meeting on Oct. 26, however, the organization approved new language requiring sporting officials to register and pay a fee with the UIL, rather than TASO, in order to officiate at UIL varsity games. The new rules, adopted in final form on Nov. 6, take effect July 1, 2010.

Although the UIL constitution states that it subscribes to the Texas Open Meetings Act, the TASO lawsuit alleges that the amendment was not publicized prior to the meeting, nor was TASO’s leadership notified of the planned change, even though two UIL representatives serve as ex-officio members of the TASO Board. Adding further insult to injury, Tony Timmons, an assistant athletic director for the UIL, allegedly attempted to intimidate and coerce Houston sporting officials two days after the October vote, telling them it would be “bye-bye” for those officials who did not comply with the new UIL registration scheme.

“It is a sad day when an organization such as the UIL that professes fair play and rule enforcement is not even able to follow its own rules,” said Austin attorney Gary Schumann, who brought forth the lawsuit on behalf of TASO.

“Although the UIL has the right to regulate its own members and their activities – the law will not allow it to use this power in a back-door fashion to regulate other professions and trades,” said Schumann, a partner in the law firm Savrick, Schumann, Johnson, McGarr, Kaminski & Shirley, L.L.P. “What are they planning to do next? Require that all the sod farmers throughout the state register with the UIL if they want to provide sod to football and baseball and soccer fields?”

At issue is what power, if any, the UIL has to regulate and/or tax sporting officials, who contract with and are paid by individual school districts. As it currently exists, the UIL’s legal status is unclear. Its only governing documents are its own self-drafted constitution. Over the years, various courts have wrestled with whether the UIL is a private association or a state administrative entity. Most courts have concluded that the UIL is simply a “voluntary-member association of Texas public schools.” The courts have further noted that there is no statute creating the UIL or empowering the University of Texas to create the UIL. The UIL professes to be a non-profit organization. The Texas Secretary of State, however, has no record of the UIL ever having filed any organizational documents.

In 2003, Rep. Joe Nixon (R-Houston) introduced House Bill 580 to abolish the existing UIL and replace it with a legitimate state agency having clearly defined powers. Nixon said in its current form the UIL does “not legally exist” and “has no legislative oversight” and “is not subject to sunset review.” Nixon’s bill, however, failed to become law.

TASO, in contrast, has a clearly defined mission and a long and distinguished history of advancing the ideals of good sportsmanship and fair play through qualified officiating and encouragement of respect for the authority of officials. Its roots go back to the late 1930s, when the Southwest Conference (SWC) recognized the need for training sports officials and developing local officials’ associations. The Southwest Conference Official's Association (SWOA) was established to handle football and basketball officiating duties. Many high school sporting officials joined the SWOA ranks in those early days, even though the association’s original focus was to train collegiate officials.

By 1977, the Texas football, basketball, and baseball officiating associations had joined together to form the Southwest Officials Association (SOA), a statewide governing body for high school officials. The SOA umbrella soon expanded to include volleyball, softball and soccer. Operating under the TASO name since 1999, the Austin-based professional trade association registers Texas sports officials, provides educational materials and training, promotes the professional interests of the officiating trade, and advocates on behalf of its members. TASO also conducts formal disciplinary hearings and oversight of its member officials. Its more than 15,000 members officiate at varsity and sub-varsity games throughout the state.

“Most of our members have been doing this a long time,” said TASO Board Chairman George Coit. “We do it because we love the sport and are concerned about the student athletes. We want the kids to have a fair and equal chance to win or lose. To do that, we need to have the best quality of officials out on the field.”

The TASO lawsuit, filed Dec. 3 in Travis County District Court, requests a temporary injunction against the UIL until the legal issues surrounding the UIL’s new rules are resolved.

“We don’t think the UIL has the power to do any of this, and we don’t want our members feeling pressured to pay what may be an illegal fee to protect their jobs until the court sorts this out,” said Coit.

On the surface, the UIL changes apply only to certain varsity sport contests, but TASO says the new rules requiring sporting officials to pay a special fee and register with the UIL would have a much deeper and widespread impact.

“School districts don’t contract with a few sporting officials for each individual varsity game and a whole different set of officials for each sub-varsity game,” said Coit. “They don’t have time to do that and it’s not efficient. They use the same group of officials for all their games. So if our members decide to hold off on paying the UIL fee, which essentially duplicates the fee they already pay the TASO association, they risk being shut out of all the games, not only the varsity ones.”

The TASO lawsuit states that the UIL, by virtue of its mandating a sporting official registration fee and its stated intent to form a “UIL Officials Department,” is seeking to usurp the functions of TASO and force all sporting officials in Texas to submit to the UIL as their representatives for obtaining insurance, lobbying, and looking after the interests of their profession. TASO’s attorney notes that UIL currently has no authority to undertake any of these “trade association” activities it now advertises on its website.

“If the UIL wants to engage in such significantly new operations, they would have to amend their constitution with the approval of their membership,” said Schumann. “They haven’t done this. Instead, a few of their staff members have initiated what seems to be a poorly thought-out raid on a respected professional trade association.”

Schumann believes this situation, which is being forced upon Texas sporting officials, is a clear conflict of interest.

“It is impossible for the UIL to operate as the sole advocacy group for sports officials in everything from obtaining insurance to lobbying, as the UIL’s website now implies it will be doing, because the UIL’s true allegiance is to their members, which are the school districts,” said Schumann. “That’s why the UIL currently has the sole power to set the pay scale and working conditions for sporting officials – they are negotiating the pay scale on behalf of their member schools. But now the UIL seems to think it can play both sides. That it can hold down the official’s pay per game and then run around to the other side of the field and operate as a pseudo-TASO entity and pretend it is representing the best interests of sporting officials. It doesn’t work that way.”

For its part, the UIL rules state that the new fee it seeks to impose would be “to help offset costs of programs for officials.” This explanation, however, makes little sense to TASO, whose individual sports divisions already produce training programs and educational materials that are highly respected within the sporting official profession.

“I have a hard time imagining the UIL taking over this function,” said Coit. “For example, we just printed 6,000 copies of our new baseball mechanics manual. The baseball division’s budget, which comes from TASO membership fees, paid for the printing expenses, but developing the manual was something our people did on a volunteer basis over the course of three years. They weren’t getting paid for it, but these experienced officials knew the manual needed to be done and they wanted to make sure it was done right. There’s a lot that goes into officiating a game properly. You don’t accidentally end up in the right spot to call a play. This is all stuff sporting officials have to learn. That’s why we focus so much on training.”

Of specific concern to TASO is the fact that the UIL rules, as newly approved, require all sports officials to register with the UIL if they want to practice in their profession and give the UIL the unfettered right to charge sports officials an unlimited amount in “fees” to offset the cost of the programs and services that the UIL in its sole discretion intends to provide.

“In short, the UIL is essentially empowering itself to charge an ‘occupation tax’ on a historically independent profession, without any limit or cap on its powers, and without giving sports officials any say in the leadership that would be controlling them and charging them fees,” said Schumann. “The fact is the UIL has absolutely no right to tax and regulate TASO’s membership. It is not a governmental agency and the legislature has given it no authority to impose fees, tax, regulate, require registration, or act as the sole or exclusive trade association of an independent profession.”  This gives new emphases to the phrase, “Taxation without representation.”

TASO is also asking the court to curtail the UIL from travelling around the state to meet with local TASO divisions and chapters. In these meetings, the TASO lawsuit alleges that the UIL has made substantial misrepresentations in an effort to coerce and intimidate TASO members into leaving the association and registering with the UIL rather than TASO. TASO further claims that the UIL has put pressure on local TASO divisions and chapters to turn over TASO monies and assets to the UIL. And, according to TASO, the UIL has tried to obtain proprietary TASO membership and contact information from the venders who provide “sign-in” software to TASO chapters.

“Basically, we’d like their guys to stop bad-mouthing our association and threatening our members until the court figures out what power the UIL has,” said Coit. “We’re hearing a lot of troubling things from our members, including that representatives of the UIL may have convinced some of our local chapters to turn over TASO dues money to the UIL. If this has happened, it would be illegal.”

The TASO lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order and temporary injunction to: (1) block the UIL from enforcing, implementing or taking any action to pursue the adoption of the Nov. 6 changes to UIL Rule 1204; (2) prevent the UIL, its employees and agents from taking any action to compel, coerce or encourage any person not to register with TASO as a sports official or to register with the UIL in lieu of registering with TASO as a sports official; and (3) bar the UIL, its employees and agents from charging or collecting any fee, tax or other revenue directly from any sports official as a condition of engaging in the officiating profession.

“It’s a shame that TASO finds itself in this position,” said Schumann. “We always advise our clients that litigation should be the last resort to resolving a problem. Unfortunately, the UIL’s improper efforts to push through this power-grab over Texas sports-officiating left my clients with no options other than filing this lawsuit.”

For more information about the TASO lawsuit, contact Gary Schumann at 512/347-1604 or 512/431-6544, or email [email protected]

[Mr. Buddy Garrity]

uh oh  :o

[RETIREDFAN1]

Talk about a frivolous lawsuit....

[Guest ECBucFan]

Another fine example of the UIL's eternal POWER GRABBING. They want to eradicate every bit of local control possible. A generation from now, I predict the UIL will have taken over [i]coaching[/i], too.  >:(

[elhector1]

[quote name="Colmesneilfan1" post="722970" timestamp="1259866986"]
Talk about a frivolous lawsuit....
[/quote]

How about a frivoulous organization, which is what the UIL is?  They call themselves a "non-profit" but according to the state of Texas, don't have the required documentation to prove they are such.  They do not have taxing status, and as such are not able to dictate fees for anything, according to their own constitution.  I think it would be a fine time to subpoena the financials of the UIL, and see why they need these fees all of a sudden.  I am of the opinion that there MIGHT be some misuse of funds.  We'll see if they give up their financials...    

[RETIREDFAN1]

the UIL is the greatest organization of its type in the world.  Interscholastic organizations from all over the nation pattern themselves after the UIL.  It has done an excellent job from its first year in 1910 and is still doing a fine job. 

[Guest ECBucFan]

[quote name="Colmesneilfan1" post="722979" timestamp="1259868060"]
the UIL is the greatest organization of its type in the world.  Interscholastic organizations from all over the nation pattern themselves after the UIL.  It has done an excellent job from its first year in 1910 and is still doing a fine job. 
[/quote]

You have to be a UIL person, or, you are beyond blind as to what has occurred the last 5-10 years power-grab wise.
Negative karma right back atcha'.  ;D

[RETIREDFAN1]

It's a shame that TASO believes that they are more important than the kids of this state who are served and have been served excellently by the UIL since 1910....

[elhector1]

[quote name="Colmesneilfan1" post="722985" timestamp="1259868739"]
It's a shame that TASO believes that they are more important than the kids of this state who are served and have been served excellently by the UIL since 1910....
[/quote]

Having met a lot more TASO officials than UIL ones, I can feel comfortable saying that I have more confidence in TASO being correct on this one than the UIL is.  Also, the UIL of 1910 is not the UIL of today.  I beleive that TASO will prevail in this lawsuit. 

[bronco1]

[quote name="elhector1" post="723036" timestamp="1259871780"]
[quote author=Colmesneilfan1 link=topic=63324.msg722985#msg722985 date=1259868739]
It's a shame that TASO believes that they are more important than the kids of this state who are served and have been served excellently by the UIL since 1910....
[/quote]

Having met a lot more TASO officials than UIL ones, I can feel comfortable saying that I have more confidence in TASO being correct on this one than the UIL is.  Also, the UIL of 1910 is not the UIL of today.  I beleive that TASO will prevail in this lawsuit. 
[/quote]

I'll agree with that.

[RETIREDFAN1]

From my reading of the article and the suit, it seems to me that TASO would rather completely destroy extracurricular activities in Texas than allow the UIL to do it's job.....I guess we see who has the best interests of Texas children at heart....it's certainly not TASO......

[Hotrodg]

[quote name="Colmesneilfan1" post="723115" timestamp="1259875638"]
From my reading of the article and the suit, it seems to me that TASO would rather completely destroy extracurricular activities in Texas than allow the UIL to do it's job.....I guess we see who has the best interests of Texas children at heart....it's certainly not TASO......
[/quote]

How is collecting fees from officials the UIL's job?  Look at it this way:  Say the UIL suddenly decided they were going to require all bus drivers that transport student athlete to or from games to register with the UIL and pay the UIL a fee.  Is that OK?  How about scoreboard operators?  PA announcers?  Gate attendants?  Groundskeepers?  The guy that installs sprinklers?

[FriendswoodFan]

[quote name="ECBucFan" post="722982" timestamp="1259868371"]
[quote author=Colmesneilfan1 link=topic=63324.msg722979#msg722979 date=1259868060]
the UIL is the greatest organization of its type in the world.  Interscholastic organizations from all over the nation pattern themselves after the UIL.  It has done an excellent job from its first year in 1910 and is still doing a fine job. 
[/quote]

You have to be a UIL person, or, you are beyond blind as to what has occurred the last 5-10 years power-grab wise.
Negative karma right back atcha'.  ;D
[/quote]

Call me "beyond blind" because I have no idea what you are talking about.  Can you shed some light on what you mean?

[swampdude]

The UIL has been headed down this primrose path for the past 15 years.  They keep adding playoff teams to the point of being embarrassing.  There were several 2 - 8 teams in the playoffs in football this year.  Why have playoffs if everyone is playing?  Oh, you mean the UIL gets a cut of playoff receipts???  Gee, who would have thunk it?  IF you are wanting to know the UIL's motive....."follow the money"!!!  Here is one coach hoping that TASO prevails here!!

[RETIREDFAN1]

You better read the article...If TASO prevails, the UIL is finished and high school sports as we know and love them will be over.....TASO has decided that if they can't have their way, then the kids will just have to do without extracurricular activities....how selfish can you get??? 

[elhector1]

[quote name="Colmesneilfan1" post="723177" timestamp="1259882057"]
You better read the article...If TASO prevails, the UIL is finished and high school sports as we know and love them will be over.....TASO has decided that if they can't have their way, then the kids will just have to do without extracurricular activities....how selfish can you get??? 
[/quote]

actually, I beleive it's you who needs to better comprehend the article.  TASO did not bring the lawsuit out of the blue...they brought it as a result of a middleman's increased fee schedule.  For years, TASO officials have been at games with no problems, officiating in an atmosphere of abuse and idiocy by fans who call games from the stands.  Where have the UIL officials been?  NOWHERE.  The UIL is a self proclaimed legislative body...they have no governmental function.  The way the article reads is that TASO wants to remain with the status quo, which has worked for years...until some greedy hands got into the mix at UIL "headquarters".  Nowhere is it evident that TASO wants to get rid if the UIL...what has happened though, in the past, is that there have been attempts by LEGISLATORS not TASO, to get rid of the UIL as it now exists, and create an actual governing body that is state affiliated.  So don't go saying that TASO wants to kill the UIL...

[RETIREDFAN1]

TASO's lawsuit will destroy the UIL...I'll say it here right now....TASO has decided that since they can't get what they want,  they'll just bring the UIL to it's knees and to hell with the kids of Texas.....THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF THIS LAWSUIT IS ALLOWED TO GO ON....TASO hasn't looked at the unintended consequences of their actions....TASO is going to look very bad when this all pans out and that shyster lawyer they hired will laugh all the way to the bank.....

[RETIREDFAN1]

...and don't get me wrong...I'm not against you guys getting paid more...I'm against this reckless lawsuit that your organization has brought to bear....mark my words....this will end extracurricular activities in Texas as we know them...and for what??? 

[HoopInsider_Cooper]

[font=Courier]Destory the UIL? GET REAL!!!!![/font]

[MrUmp1]

[quote name="Colmesneilfan1" post="723197" timestamp="1259884135"]
TASO's lawsuit will destroy the UIL...I'll say it here right now....TASO has decided that since they can't get what they want,  they'll just bring the UIL to it's knees and to heck with the kids of Texas.....THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF THIS LAWSUIT IS ALLOWED TO GO ON....TASO hasn't looked at the unintended consequences of their actions....TASO is going to look very bad when this all pans out and that shyster lawyer they hired will laugh all the way to the bank.....
[/quote]

Just thought that I would ask since i am in the know of all of this.... how do you know TASO is paying this lawyer????? You under estimate the power of the parent or grandparent of a student. TASO does not want to get rid of the UIL, they just want the UIL to continue to recognize TASO as an approved school officiating source. As Forrest said, thats about all I have to say about that.

[cowboys]

[quote name="Colmesneilfan1" post="723197" timestamp="1259884135"]
TASO's lawsuit will destroy the UIL...I'll say it here right now....TASO has decided that since they can't get what they want,  they'll just bring the UIL to it's knees and to heck with the kids of Texas.....THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF THIS LAWSUIT IS ALLOWED TO GO ON....TASO hasn't looked at the unintended consequences of their actions....TASO is going to look very bad when this all pans out and that shyster lawyer they hired will laugh all the way to the bank.....
[/quote]

The members of TASO who "donate" their time need a little compensation for their troubles.  This is all based on financial exigencies of the various school districts in the state of Texas.  They complained to the state about spending money on officials, and this is the UIL's way of accommodating the school districts.  They are requiring all officials to register with the UIL for the set fees that have already been determined (fees lower than TASO's rates.)  This way the districts do not spend as much money.  I have personally heard from many officials from various sports state the end of their officiating career rests on this issue.  These people do not intend on "spending" money when they work these games:  Many would like to break even, and the UIL rates will not allow them to do so.  Also, TASO has operated regionally as far as the distribution of officials is concerned.  Under the UIL, these guys would have to travel further than before because it looks like a rational fit on a computer screen. 

As far as the UIL is concerned, Colmesneil is not on the top of the list of priorities they have.  Under the UIL, many subvarsity games will be called by the coaches from the participating schools, and I do not think the UIL will care about the plight of small schools.  I have had the pleasure of watching many junior high games this year that had to be called by either the coaches or even parents out of the stands.  Now, you tell me if that is fair to the kids...I don't believe so.

On a final note...think about the Declaration of Independence and Constitution of the United States...

The UIL is considered a "governing body" of athletic/academic competition in the state of Texas.  What regulation is there for this "governing body."  As far as I know, they can pretty much do anything they wish with the blessings of superintendents (the people that are the most disconnected with the entire process.)  What can WE do about it?  File an appeal?  Maybe WE should do something about the tyranny.  I applaud TASO.   

[TheRef]

[quote name="swampdude" post="723163" timestamp="1259880448"]
The UIL has been headed down this primrose path for the past 15 years.  They keep adding playoff teams to the point of being embarrassing.  There were several 2 - 8 teams in the playoffs in football this year.  Why have playoffs if everyone is playing?  Oh, you mean the UIL gets a cut of playoff receipts???  Gee, who would have thunk it?  IF you are wanting to know the UIL's motive....."follow the money"!!!  Here is one coach hoping that TASO prevails here!!
[/quote]Thank You for your support coach!

[TheRef]

[quote name="Colmesneilfan1" post="723177" timestamp="1259882057"]
You better read the article...If TASO prevails, the UIL is finished and high school sports as we know and love them will be over.....TASO has decided that if they can't have their way, then the kids will just have to do without extracurricular activities....how selfish can you get??? 
[/quote]
No the UIL will not be finished, it just means that TASO will stay in charge of officiating and UIL will handle whatever it is that they do ( counting their money). UIL which is run by Superintendents have no business being in charge of the officials in this state. And if TASO loses to the UIL that is when you have to worry about High School Sports coming to an end! You can't play the sports if you have no officials! And every official in this state has vowed to stick with TASO and not pay the UIL a dime. Which means the UIL takeover of what! Officiating with no officials! My suggestion to anyone who has a student athlete is to support TASO so that your athlete can continue to have games to play in! Contact your state representative and let them know that you support TASO! Trust me your state Representatives know what is going on, their email boxes are full and their phones have been ringing off the wall! Come on out and support TASO so that these kids can play and have a fair game!

[TheRef]

Oh and by the way Colmesneil Fan I spoke with your athletic director and he says he is totally against the UIL takeover! But that is the case with most of the athletic directors I have spoken with!

Can you say National Federation Rules! Thats right, if the UIL has their way, it will be the end of NCAA rules used in High School sports in Texas!

[TheRef]

[quote name="HoopInsider_Cooper" post="722923" timestamp="1259862493"]
Austin, Tex.  – The Texas Association of Sporting Officials (TASO) has filed suit in Travis County District Court to block the University Interscholastic League (UIL) from what TASO sees as an illegal and unauthorized takeover of sports officiating in Texas. The lawsuit charges that the UIL not only is attempting to exercise powers that it does not possess, but that its proposed rule changes would create monopoly control over sports officiating and impose an illegal occupation tax.

The attempted takeover marks a serious rift in an otherwise cooperative relationship that has spanned 33 years. Until now, Section 1204 of the UIL’s constitution and contest rules has recommended that schools use officials registered with TASO for their varsity games. At the UIL’s Legislative Council meeting on Oct. 26, however, the organization approved new language requiring sporting officials to register and pay a fee with the UIL, rather than TASO, in order to officiate at UIL varsity games. The new rules, adopted in final form on Nov. 6, take effect July 1, 2010.

Although the UIL constitution states that it subscribes to the Texas Open Meetings Act, the TASO lawsuit alleges that the amendment was not publicized prior to the meeting, nor was TASO’s leadership notified of the planned change, even though two UIL representatives serve as ex-officio members of the TASO Board. Adding further insult to injury, Tony Timmons, an assistant athletic director for the UIL, allegedly attempted to intimidate and coerce Houston sporting officials two days after the October vote, telling them it would be “bye-bye” for those officials who did not comply with the new UIL registration scheme.

“It is a sad day when an organization such as the UIL that professes fair play and rule enforcement is not even able to follow its own rules,” said Austin attorney Gary Schumann, who brought forth the lawsuit on behalf of TASO.

“Although the UIL has the right to regulate its own members and their activities – the law will not allow it to use this power in a back-door fashion to regulate other professions and trades,” said Schumann, a partner in the law firm Savrick, Schumann, Johnson, McGarr, Kaminski & Shirley, L.L.P. “What are they planning to do next? Require that all the sod farmers throughout the state register with the UIL if they want to provide sod to football and baseball and soccer fields?”

At issue is what power, if any, the UIL has to regulate and/or tax sporting officials, who contract with and are paid by individual school districts. As it currently exists, the UIL’s legal status is unclear. Its only governing documents are its own self-drafted constitution. Over the years, various courts have wrestled with whether the UIL is a private association or a state administrative entity. Most courts have concluded that the UIL is simply a “voluntary-member association of Texas public schools.” The courts have further noted that there is no statute creating the UIL or empowering the University of Texas to create the UIL. The UIL professes to be a non-profit organization. The Texas Secretary of State, however, has no record of the UIL ever having filed any organizational documents.

In 2003, Rep. Joe Nixon (R-Houston) introduced House Bill 580 to abolish the existing UIL and replace it with a legitimate state agency having clearly defined powers. Nixon said in its current form the UIL does “not legally exist” and “has no legislative oversight” and “is not subject to sunset review.” Nixon’s bill, however, failed to become law.

TASO, in contrast, has a clearly defined mission and a long and distinguished history of advancing the ideals of good sportsmanship and fair play through qualified officiating and encouragement of respect for the authority of officials. Its roots go back to the late 1930s, when the Southwest Conference (SWC) recognized the need for training sports officials and developing local officials’ associations. The Southwest Conference Official's Association (SWOA) was established to handle football and basketball officiating duties. Many high school sporting officials joined the SWOA ranks in those early days, even though the association’s original focus was to train collegiate officials.

By 1977, the Texas football, basketball, and baseball officiating associations had joined together to form the Southwest Officials Association (SOA), a statewide governing body for high school officials. The SOA umbrella soon expanded to include volleyball, softball and soccer. Operating under the TASO name since 1999, the Austin-based professional trade association registers Texas sports officials, provides educational materials and training, promotes the professional interests of the officiating trade, and advocates on behalf of its members. TASO also conducts formal disciplinary hearings and oversight of its member officials. Its more than 15,000 members officiate at varsity and sub-varsity games throughout the state.

“Most of our members have been doing this a long time,” said TASO Board Chairman George Coit. “We do it because we love the sport and are concerned about the student athletes. We want the kids to have a fair and equal chance to win or lose. To do that, we need to have the best quality of officials out on the field.”

The TASO lawsuit, filed Dec. 3 in Travis County District Court, requests a temporary injunction against the UIL until the legal issues surrounding the UIL’s new rules are resolved.

“We don’t think the UIL has the power to do any of this, and we don’t want our members feeling pressured to pay what may be an illegal fee to protect their jobs until the court sorts this out,” said Coit.

On the surface, the UIL changes apply only to certain varsity sport contests, but TASO says the new rules requiring sporting officials to pay a special fee and register with the UIL would have a much deeper and widespread impact.

“School districts don’t contract with a few sporting officials for each individual varsity game and a whole different set of officials for each sub-varsity game,” said Coit. “They don’t have time to do that and it’s not efficient. They use the same group of officials for all their games. So if our members decide to hold off on paying the UIL fee, which essentially duplicates the fee they already pay the TASO association, they risk being shut out of all the games, not only the varsity ones.”

The TASO lawsuit states that the UIL, by virtue of its mandating a sporting official registration fee and its stated intent to form a “UIL Officials Department,” is seeking to usurp the functions of TASO and force all sporting officials in Texas to submit to the UIL as their representatives for obtaining insurance, lobbying, and looking after the interests of their profession. TASO’s attorney notes that UIL currently has no authority to undertake any of these “trade association” activities it now advertises on its website.

“If the UIL wants to engage in such significantly new operations, they would have to amend their constitution with the approval of their membership,” said Schumann. “They haven’t done this. Instead, a few of their staff members have initiated what seems to be a poorly thought-out raid on a respected professional trade association.”

Schumann believes this situation, which is being forced upon Texas sporting officials, is a clear conflict of interest.

“It is impossible for the UIL to operate as the sole advocacy group for sports officials in everything from obtaining insurance to lobbying, as the UIL’s website now implies it will be doing, because the UIL’s true allegiance is to their members, which are the school districts,” said Schumann. “That’s why the UIL currently has the sole power to set the pay scale and working conditions for sporting officials – they are negotiating the pay scale on behalf of their member schools. But now the UIL seems to think it can play both sides. That it can hold down the official’s pay per game and then run around to the other side of the field and operate as a pseudo-TASO entity and pretend it is representing the best interests of sporting officials. It doesn’t work that way.”

For its part, the UIL rules state that the new fee it seeks to impose would be “to help offset costs of programs for officials.” This explanation, however, makes little sense to TASO, whose individual sports divisions already produce training programs and educational materials that are highly respected within the sporting official profession.

“I have a hard time imagining the UIL taking over this function,” said Coit. “For example, we just printed 6,000 copies of our new baseball mechanics manual. The baseball division’s budget, which comes from TASO membership fees, paid for the printing expenses, but developing the manual was something our people did on a volunteer basis over the course of three years. They weren’t getting paid for it, but these experienced officials knew the manual needed to be done and they wanted to make sure it was done right. There’s a lot that goes into officiating a game properly. You don’t accidentally end up in the right spot to call a play. This is all stuff sporting officials have to learn. That’s why we focus so much on training.”

Of specific concern to TASO is the fact that the UIL rules, as newly approved, require all sports officials to register with the UIL if they want to practice in their profession and give the UIL the unfettered right to charge sports officials an unlimited amount in “fees” to offset the cost of the programs and services that the UIL in its sole discretion intends to provide.

“In short, the UIL is essentially empowering itself to charge an ‘occupation tax’ on a historically independent profession, without any limit or cap on its powers, and without giving sports officials any say in the leadership that would be controlling them and charging them fees,” said Schumann. “The fact is the UIL has absolutely no right to tax and regulate TASO’s membership. It is not a governmental agency and the legislature has given it no authority to impose fees, tax, regulate, require registration, or act as the sole or exclusive trade association of an independent profession.”  This gives new emphases to the phrase, “Taxation without representation.”

TASO is also asking the court to curtail the UIL from travelling around the state to meet with local TASO divisions and chapters. In these meetings, the TASO lawsuit alleges that the UIL has made substantial misrepresentations in an effort to coerce and intimidate TASO members into leaving the association and registering with the UIL rather than TASO. TASO further claims that the UIL has put pressure on local TASO divisions and chapters to turn over TASO monies and assets to the UIL. And, according to TASO, the UIL has tried to obtain proprietary TASO membership and contact information from the venders who provide “sign-in” software to TASO chapters.

“Basically, we’d like their guys to stop bad-mouthing our association and threatening our members until the court figures out what power the UIL has,” said Coit. “We’re hearing a lot of troubling things from our members, including that representatives of the UIL may have convinced some of our local chapters to turn over TASO dues money to the UIL. If this has happened, it would be illegal.”

The TASO lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order and temporary injunction to: (1) block the UIL from enforcing, implementing or taking any action to pursue the adoption of the Nov. 6 changes to UIL Rule 1204; (2) prevent the UIL, its employees and agents from taking any action to compel, coerce or encourage any person not to register with TASO as a sports official or to register with the UIL in lieu of registering with TASO as a sports official; and (3) bar the UIL, its employees and agents from charging or collecting any fee, tax or other revenue directly from any sports official as a condition of engaging in the officiating profession.

“It’s a shame that TASO finds itself in this position,” said Schumann. “We always advise our clients that litigation should be the last resort to resolving a problem. Unfortunately, the UIL’s improper efforts to push through this power-grab over Texas sports-officiating left my clients with no options other than filing this lawsuit.”

For more information about the TASO lawsuit, contact Gary Schumann at 512/347-1604 or 512/431-6544, or email [email protected]

[/quote]Coop thank you for making this public, it is time for everyone to see just how money hungry the UIL really is!