Kentucky Sports Radio sued by referee who was threatened after UK's NCAA tournament loss

LEXINGTON, Ky. — NCAA basketball official John Higgins has filed a federal civil lawsuit against Kentucky Sports Radio, alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, tortious interference with a business and civil conspiracy.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Nebraska on Tuesday, alleges KSR and its operators Matt Jones and Drew Franklin, caused harm to his family and his business by sharing Higgins' personal and business information about his company, Weatherguard, online and on radio broadcasts. 

The Athletic was first to report news of the lawsuit. 

The suit calls for an award of damages in excess of $75,000. 

"The Higgins lawsuit against KSR is absurdly frivolous and without any legal merit whatsoever," Jones tweeted Tuesday. "We will defend it and expect a favorable result quickly." 

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Higgins officiated Kentucky's Elite Eight loss to North Carolina in March. There were 19 fouls called on the Wildcats, with four Kentucky starters called for two fouls each in the first half.

"You know, it's amazing that we were in that game where they practically fouled out my team," Kentucky coach John Calipari said. "Amazing that we had a chance."

Higgins received death threats from fans and the Facebook page for his business was bombarded with reviews and comments.

The Sarpy County (Neb.) Sheriff’s Department decided against any criminal prosecution after an investigation. Email correspondence obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request by the Courier-Journal showed the Sarpy County Attorney's Office forwarded information gathered during the investigation to the Federal Communications Commission. 

"We would like information on which department within the FCC we can forward this information to for the purpose of a possible investigation on violations of federal communications regulations," law clerk Andrew T. Erickson wrote in an email to the FCC. 

In another email, Matthew Conaty, deputy chief of the FCC Investigations and Hearings Division, revealed the information Erickson sent the FCC. 

“Fans, angry at Kentucky’s loss in that game, 'posted a lot of stuff online,' mostly on Facebook and Twitter," read Contay's email, citing the information provided by the Sarpy County Attorney's Office.

"—One such fan created a montage of Higgins’ 'bad calls' and posted it on video hosting site Vimeo. The montage apparently concluded with a 45-second commercial for Higgins’ roofing business (depicting Higgins out of his referee’s uniform) and included his home and/or business contact information. Mr. Higgins subsequently received a series of threatening calls, which are being addressed by federal and local law enforcement.

"—The video montage was posted and promoted by two 'media outlets of interest to the FCC,' Kentucky Sports Radio and Kentuckycrazies.com. 

"—According to its website, Kentucky Sports Radio is broadcast by 44 AM and FM radio affiliates and 1 cable television affiliate in 35 markets. Its flagship station appears to be Station WKJK (AM), Louisville, Kentucky, licensee of CC Licenses, LLC. According to a March 28, 2017 website post, KSR hosts 'Matt and Ryan' spent a portion of their Tuesday morning broadcast 'continu[ing] the hatred for John Higgins.'"

Phone calls and messages to the FCC by the Courier-Journal were not returned.