Bain v. Gillispie
Iowa Court of Appeals
357 N.W.2d 47 (1984)
College basketball referee Bain (plaintiff) made a controversial call that cost the University of Iowa a game; novelty-store owner Gillispie (defendant), a private for-profit business unaffiliated with the university, responded by selling shirts depicting Bain being hanged in effigy. Bain sued Gillispie for an injunction and damages, and Gillispie counterclaimed, arguing Bain had negligently breached the standard of care expected of a referee and that Gillispie, as an Iowa fan whose sales depended on the team's success, was a third-party beneficiary of Bain's employment contract with the Big Ten Conference. The trial court granted Bain summary judgment, and Gillispie appealed.
Whether a party with no contractual relationship to a referee's employer may sue the referee for negligence or enforce third-party beneficiary rights under the referee's employment contract, absent evidence the contract was intended to benefit him or that any duty ran to him.