Alabama Supreme Court hears arguments on whether NCAA can be sued in state in Pruitt case

The Supreme Court of Alabama heard competing arguments on Sept. 17 in Ex parte National Collegiate Athletic Association, a petition seeking mandamus relief to dismiss Jeremy Pruitt’s suit for lack of jurisdiction and improper venue. Counsel for the NCAA, Forrest Latta, told the court the question is whether the NCAA “purposely initiate[d] any action aimed at Alabama that gave rise to this lawsuit,” arguing the complaint’s factual allegations point to activity in Tennessee, Ohio and Indiana rather than Alabama.

Counsel for Coach Jeremy Pruitt, Angela Schaefer, countered that the NCAA’s show-cause enforcement mechanism operates like a private injunction directed at Alabama institutions and has caused Pruitt to lose concrete job opportunities in the state. “The show cause order is in essence a private injunction,” Schaefer said, arguing that the order’s enforcement conditions — which in one example included a 100% game-day suspension and annual reporting — were imposed on an Alabama institution. The court took the case under submission at the end of the arguments.