Who blinked first, Hurley or Wilson?
Last month, Julian Wilson initiated a $US1.5 million lawsuit against Hurley for their alleged wrongful termination of his contract.
The crux of Hurley’s alleged reasoning centered on Wilson’s failure to compete in 2020. The contract had apparently entitled Hurley to reduce Wilson’s compensation if he failed to compete in at least five World Tour events in a year.
The WSL cancelled the 2020 Tour following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s unclear why Wilson dismissed the suit, as the documents filed on Wilson’s behalf are lacking any substantive information, but it’s likely that the parties settled.
Wilson’s attorneys would have likely threatened suit in the initial negotiations and he (plausibly) would have had little incentive to dismiss the suit without reaching some settlement agreement, as even the hint of litigation is substantial leverage in the U.S. (lawyers are an expensive bunch).
It’s possible that Wilson blinked first in light of a threat by Hurley (aka Bluestar Alliance) to litigate the matter to the hilt, but it seems unlikely given Wilson was represented by a high-powered legal firm specializing in media and entertainment.
Wilson and Hurley entered into the original seven-year agreement in 2014.
Then, in 2019, Hurley was purchased by Bluestar Alliance.
According to Wilson, Bluestar announced its intention to shift away from athlete sponsorships following the acquisition.
Bluestar was allegedly unhappy with many of the contracts they had acquired, “reportedly looking for loopholes in contracts. … to use as leverage to renegotiate terms.”
Wilson also alleged that Hurley had attempted to postpone his payments, telling Wilson that if he did not agree to the postponement, Hurley would face bankruptcy.
Since Bluestar’s acquisition, Hurley has culled several high-profile athletes.
Rob Machado, a Hurley sponsored surfer for twenty years, was dropped in January of this year.
John Florence left Hurley after he was reportedly offered $2 million to void the remaining $12 million left in his contract.
Carissa Moore was rumored to be in a contract dispute with Hurley earlier this year, though she still remains on the team.
Wilson is still sponsored by a myriad of brands, including Red Bull, but for now, the nose of his board looks a lot like ours.
The flouting of contracts isn’t exactly novel news for Americans (see American removal of Native Americans), but it still feels dire when corporations can essentially opt out of expensive surf sponsorships with little consequence.
A dark time for surfers in the paid-to-shred biz.
Poor Julian the millionaire
Real life is somewhat challenging. That being said, I’m glad that these twats are losing contracts and I hope it goes full bore. Let’s see what happens to the pampered in Society over the next decade. Should be really f interesting. You could create a urinetube channel dedicated to what these wankers do with their lives after the circus fails for them. The future is bleak for entertainment surfing. Kooks who have all used up their instantgrams posing w/boards in “places”, has just about ran out. Most of them have already tried to paddle out, and are looking for a social cause to remove them from the pesky part of Surfing……(actually going out and Surfing!!). I can’t see a future of WSL making it. Sponsors trying to slam the door on their back rub contracts, will snowball soon.
Maybe if pro surfers were more interesting and offered something a little different their sponsors wouldn’t be such cunts to them. They’re all pretty much the same. Boring as fuck and expendable.
i always said jules needs a rival in the sport..needs to fight someone.. the time he stormed the judges tower at trestles for getting bullshit score for his shuvit and 360 on one wave.. that was good. we saw him with some rage. no one does this anymore. hell sunny was doing this every event..
Another vicim of getting paid too much money before he even had any results on the world tour, unlike the Brazilians. Seems like that era, a decade or so ago produced some soft competitors. Jordy, Kolohe all got money early on.
Exactly. Rage is good, would also be ok with some open drug use and sexual activity between competitors. Perhaps a pro surfer orgy. To be encouraged especially with no sponsors to worry about.
90’S WCT tour was like this every stop
Hobbso, surely failure to compete when competing is off the table being used was weak legally speaking? The way Hurley has been culling it’s likely they would have found a way to clip him either way right? Reckon they threatened to keep him in court til he was broke out of spite, and he blinked?
Yeah, seems likely they would’ve gotten him either way (according to Wilson at least). I don’t think he blinked though. He had a lot more to lose dismissing his suit after the fact (attorneys fees for both sides, etc.) then just following through and waiting for a settlement.
I reckon he got a chunky payout – balance of contract discounted for irrecoverable cost of litigation and litigation risk (and possibly the likelihood of covid continuing generating additional risks like Wilson being unable to comply with a request to repair the breach by competing). To settle that quickly means each assesssed their chances of winning as less likely than not. Presumably uninsured risks/costs for both sides so litigation costs would have been the compelling factor.
Jules. Owen’s has held the line.
I don’t know. O-Dog might be pulling a bit of a Trumpian style with the combover. Either way, J-Dubs on to his second kid. He’s got a head start.
So does that mean he really is going to take up a contract with Lululemon?
No. Hurluley or nothing. After this education on business ethics, he will only want to ride for a company who he really believes in.
A company who stands for what he stands for…
Apparently, failure to quit acting like a rich cunt wasn’t in the contract.
maybe this is a field you can work over, Cedar. Pro surfer management. growth industry, i’m told.
surfers need attorneys. grooms need attorneys. everyone needs attorneys to deal with the muck of other attorneys.
if it wasn’t for attorney’s, people would not need attorneys. #Unessential
unfortunately, money intervened and now parasites (attorneys) enjoy a vocation. unfortunately, you have to move to Wisco to study for parasite exams. your bad.
they call them PSAT exams.
not sure if the exam mentions surfing, but you can’t pass or study the PSAT if you are surfing.
cool thing is, your girlfriend is onboard. !!!!
study hard and she will marry you!!! living the dream!!!
adios amigo… enjoy the cheese steaks and if you can find a good Italian Beef, ask them to “dip it”.