Lawsuit: Insider trading victimizes fantasy football players

A lawsuit directed at both FanDuel and DraftKings was filed Thursday in Manhattan Federal Court alleging that the companies had victimized participants by allowing employees with inside information to play games at rival companies, according to a report published by the New York Daily News.

“In addition to years of data on optimal strategies, which gives Defendants’ employees a huge advantage over even the most ‘skilled’ [daily fantasy sports] players, Defendants’ employees also have real-time access to data on current lineups of every player in every contest, and the overall ownership percentages of every player,” the Daily News article quoted the lawsuit.

Filed by fantasy football player Adam Johnson, the Daily News reported that the class-action suit alleges that DraftKings employees have won at least $6 million playing FanDuel — proof, it says, that employees have access to inside information.

“All people want is a fair game. What has come out is that it’s clearly not a level playing field. If people knew there were insiders with access to the info they have, they wouldn’t play on these sites,” Johnson’s attorney Jasper Ward said in the report, adding that he believes the suit is the first of its kind.

On Wednesday, both sites announced they were banning employees from playing fantasy sports for money altogether after a DraftKings employee mistakenly released data that showed an obvious advantage, the Daily News reported, adding that state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has opened an inquiry into both sites.