Federal Lawsuit Filed on Behalf of Sports Icon Lynette Woodard

A federal lawsuit has been filed against the Harlem Globetrotters by Bailey & Glasser, LLP on behalf of Lynette Woodard—the first woman to play for the iconic exhibition basketball team. Bailey Glasser partners Michael Murphy and Elliott McGraw are leading the legal team protecting Ms. Woodard’s legal rights related to her name, image and likeness. Our co-counsel is Michael Clohisy.

Ms. Woodard is a sports icon who was the first woman to play with the Harlem Globetrotters beginning in 1986, which made her the first woman to ever play for a men’s professional basketball team.

A four-time All-American at the University of Kansas, Ms. Woodard captained the gold-medal-winning 1984 U.S. Olympic basketball team, competed in the WNBA, and played professionally across Europe and Japan. Her contributions to the sport have earned her a place in multiple halls of fame, including the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, the Women’s Sports Hall of Fame, and the African American Hall of Fame, among others.

Our lawsuit claims the Globetrotters breached the terms of their agreement by failing to pay Woodard her contractual share—25% of net merchandising revenue—for products using her likeness which she never authorized.

As set forth in our complaint: “By their own account, respondents named the ‘Lynette’ fleece sweatsuit after Ms. Woodard to take advantage of her iconic status as the first woman Harlem Globetrotter and to falsely imply her endorsement. Ms. Woodard never gave permission to defendants to use her name or persona.”

The case is Woodard v. UNDRCRWN LLC et al., case number 1:25-cv-05415, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

This case has been covered by numerous outlets including Sports Illustrated and Sportico. For more, visit this link.

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