NFL agent Ben Dogra is back representing professional athletes after a bit of a hiatus and a win against his former employer Creative Artists Agency in a long fought arbitration battle. But he is also not done litigating, with his most recent action filed against NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III.
Dogra claims that he and Griffin III had an agreement in place whereby Dogra represented the quarterback for marketing and endorsement agreements. He says that Griffin III has failed to make payment of required fees under said agreement.
The agreement, which was not in writing, was allegedly agreed upon in or around January 2012. Dogra alleges that Griffin III agreed to remit 15% of his off-field earnings to Dogra in exchange for representation services provided, including that related to the negotiation of Griffin III’s employment agreements with the University of Arizona.
Additionally, Dogra refers to an Assignment of Rights agreement that he signed with CAA, which provides Dogra entitlement to any unpaid team contract revenues and marketing revenues owed by Griffin III to CAA arising from contracts executed before November 13, 2014. The assignment document assigned Dogra all of CAA’s causes of action it may have had against Griffin III with respect to any failure of his to make commission payments to CAA.
Dogra demands roughly $657,730 from Griffin III based on a claim of breach of contract. It breaks down to $376,828 in unpaid fees from 2014, $222,188 in unpaid fees from 2015 and $58,714 in unpaid fees from 2016.
The Complaint states that Griffin III terminated his business relationship with Dogra in 2018, and takes the position that the termination has no effect on monies past due.
Dogra’s lawsuit against Robert Griffin III was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and was initiated on March 22. No response has been filed to date.
