【Löwen Play】-Alleged extortion lawsuit against DraftKings allowed to proceed

A federal judge has ruled that the lawsuit, first revealed byNEXT.iolast April, can move forward, allowing key claims of aiding and abetting assault and negligent supervision to proceed.

The case, brought by former VIP customer Steven Jacobs, alleges that the online gaming operator’s employees leaked his personal information to third parties, leading to threats, harassment, and a physical attack.

According to the lawsuit, Jacobs, a high-stakes bettor, was targeted by professional gambler Gadoon “Spanky” Kyrollos, who allegedly extorted him for money held in his DraftKings account.

Judge Natasha C Merle said: “While plaintiff has not alleged exactly how Spanky or the masked man obtained his personal information, plaintiff has alleged that he put defendant on notice of potential criminal activity to gain access to plaintiff’s information, which then allegedly came to fruition.

“The court finds the inference that DraftKings knew of this potential and failed to act to safeguard that information reasonable based on these allegations. Accordingly, plaintiff has sufficiently pled claims against DraftKings for aiding and abetting assault and battery.”

Jacobs claims that staff, including VIP hosts, helped facilitate access to his sensitive data, enabling Spanky and his associates to track him down.

He further alleges that in March 2023, an unidentified man attacked him on a subway platform, warning him about unpaid debts.

Later, in October 2023, Jacobs discovered that his account had been hacked, allegedly with the assistance of company insiders.

DraftKings moved to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that any alleged wrongdoing by its employees would not have fallen within the scope of their employment.

Judge rules key DraftKings claims to proceed

However, Judge Merle ruled that Jacobs had sufficiently alleged a potential connection between the company’s actions and the threats against him.

While the court dismissed his claims of intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, it allowed claims of aiding and abetting assault and battery, and negligent supervision, to proceed.

The operator told NEXT.iolast April: “The complaint filed against DraftKings in March 2024 by an unnamed plaintiff is full of inaccuracies and baseless allegations.

“In the complaint, the plaintiff does not identify any DraftKings employee, but rather alleges on ‘information and belief’ that an unknown and unidentified DraftKings employee provided private account information to ‘Spanky’ and to additional unnamed third parties.

“DraftKings has found no evidence of anyone at DraftKings providing plaintiff’s information to a third-party, and DraftKings denies acknowledging any such ‘security breach’.

“Nor has DraftKings uncovered any improper activity by a DraftKings employee, or any activity on plaintiff’s account, relating to the allegedly unauthorised change of the email address associated with plaintiff’s DraftKings account.”

In a public statement on X, Spanky said last year the matter was related to an agreement he had with Jacobs to bet on his behalf.

He claimed Jacobs told him he owed substantial amounts of money to various people, but denied sending a masked man to threaten him.

NEXT.iohas reached out to DraftKings and Jacobs for comment.