FanDuel Doubles Down on Defense of Claims Brought by Convicted Fraudster

Last year former Jacksonville Jaguars finance manager Amit Patel made headlines when he was sentenced to over six years in prison for embezzling millions from his employer to fund his gambling addiction. Subsequently, Mr. Patel filed a civil suit against FanDuel, alleging the company targeted and preyed on him due to his addiction. While Mr. Patel’s situation puts him in the running for least sympathetic plaintiff ever, he alleges FanDuel engaged in business practices that should be eye opening if proven true. For example, Mr. Patel maintains that FanDuel assigned him a VIP host with whom Mr. Patel communicated upwards of 100 times a day regarding gambling. According to Mr. Patel, FanDuel ignored this and many other warning signs of Mr. Patel’s problem gambling.

At this point, Mr. Patel’s contentions are merely the allegations of an admitted addict and convicted fraudster. Predictably, FanDuel sought to move the matter to arbitration last month, and then last week sought to dismiss Mr. Patel’s complaint for failure to state a claim. Clearly, FanDuel wants to shut down or at least put a lid on its involvement in this high-profile fiasco as soon as possible. And it is not hard to see why.

The explosive growth in the online gambling industry begets explosive growth in problem gambling among other negative externalities. And a high-profile case like Mr. Patel’s could end up shining a light on practices of FanDuel that many will find unscrupulous and predatory. Regardless of the outcome of Mr. Patel’s case, increased public awareness of such practices by gambling companies could lead to further questions, like what obligation—if any—do these companies have to protect addicts (and by extension their families, friends, employers, etc.) from themselves? These are certainly questions FanDuel and other gambling companies would rather not discuss.

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER or text “ILGAMB” to 833234.