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DeadspinCase 4:18-cv-06807-PJH Document 26-2 Filed 01/04/19 Page 1 of 4
1 GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP
Katherine V.A. Smith, SBN 247866
2 ksmith@gibsondunn.com
Elizabeth A. Dooley, SBN 292358
3 edooley@gibsondunn.com
333 South Grand Avenue
4 Los Angeles, CA 90071-3197
Telephone: 213.229.7000
5 Facsimile: 213.229.7520
6 GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP
Jason C. Schwartz (pro hac vice application forthcoming)
7 jschwartz@gibsondunn.com
Greta B. Williams, SBN 267695
8 gbwilliams@gibsondunn.com
1050 Connecticut Ave., N.W.
9 Washington, D.C. 20036-5306
Telephone: 202.955.8500
10 Facsimile: 202.467.0539
11 Attorneys for Defendant VOX MEDIA, INC.
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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OAKLAND DIVISION
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17 TAMRYN SPRUILL, individually and on CASE NO. 18-cv-06807-PJH
behalf of all those similarly situated,
18 DECLARATION OF JOHN NESS IN
Plaintiffs, SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT’S
19 OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFF’S MOTION
v. TO REMAND
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VOX MEDIA, INC., a Delaware corporation Date: February 20, 2019
21 (d.b.a. SB NATION); and DOES 1 to 10 Time: 9:00 a.m.
inclusive, Dept: Courtroom 3, 3rd Floor
22 Before: Hon. Phyllis J. Hamilton
Defendants. Trial Date: None Set
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Action Filed: September 21, 2018
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Gibson, Dunn &
Crutcher LLP
DECLARATION OF JOHN NESS IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT’S OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO
REMAND -- 18-CV-06807-PJH
Case 4:18-cv-06807-PJH Document 26-2 Filed 01/04/19 Page 2 of 4
1 DECLARATION OF JOHN NESS
2 I, JOHN NESS, certify and declare as follows:
3 1. I am currently employed as Director, Team Brands at Vox Media, Inc. (“Vox Media”),
4 a position I have held at Vox Media since September 11, 2017. I have personal knowledge of the facts
5 set forth in this declaration, and if called upon to do so, I could and would testify thereto. I make this
6 declaration in support of Vox Media’s Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion to Remand.
7 2. I work in Vox Media’s New York office.
8 3. I have worked for Vox Media since September 11, 2017. In my position as Director,
9 Team Brands, I am familiar with and have personal knowledge of the operations of Vox Media’s SB
10 Nation team brand websites and the roles at each team brand.
11 4. Most SB Nation team brands are focused on a particular sports team or a particular
12 college. In the case of team brands devoted to a college, usually multiple sports are covered by the
13 team brand.
14 5. SB Nation team brands often have a number of contributors for each team brand, a single
15 Site Manager, and sometimes a Deputy Manager.
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6. Contributors are individuals who produce content, but do not typically edit the work of
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others. Contributors include individuals who are contracted to write blog posts, review and moderate
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comments, produce or appear on podcasts, create videos, and produce social media content.
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Descriptions of roles that indicate someone is a contributor include: “contributor”; “lead voice”;
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“community”; “social media”; “video”; and “blogger.” Contributors, because they are serious fans of
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their team, are usually voracious consumers of news, commentary and game footage. Contributors
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might produce as few as one blog post per week or as many blog posts as they wish in a week,
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sometimes 10-15 posts per week. Therefore, there is broad variation in the number of hours each
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individual contributor might devote to performing services for Vox Media. Although Vox Media does
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not require contributors to work any particular number of hours, if one included time spent watching
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the games that contributors then create content about (or spend time watching other games or reading
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other content relating to posts), I believe it is reasonable to estimate that, while the sports team they
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Gibson, Dunn & 1
Crutcher LLP
DECLARATION OF JOHN NESS IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT’S OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO
REMAND -- 18-CV-06807-PJH
Case 4:18-cv-06807-PJH Document 26-2 Filed 01/04/19 Page 3 of 4
1 cover is in season, an individual in the role of a contributor could devote 15 hours a week to tasks
2 associated with their content creation for the team brand.
3 7. Site Managers own the voice of their particular team brand. They might often blog
4 multiple times per day and they oversee the independent contractors who produce other content,
5 including posts to social media, video, audio, and other written blog posts for the team brand. There is
6 variation in the number of hours each Site Manager might devote to performing services for Vox Media.
7 Although Vox Media does not require Site Managers to work any set number of hours, if one included
8 time spent watching all games in which the team brand’s sports team played, and if one assumes that
9 Site Managers review all content related to their team brand (including all comments posted by readers
10 and consumes third party news and commentary related to their team and sport), then I believe it is
11 reasonable to estimate that an individual in the role of Site Manager could devote 35 hours per week to
12 the team brand while the covered team is in season.
13 8. An individual with a role description of “Deputy Manager,” while not responsible for
14 the team brand in the same manner as the Site Manager, but these individuals usually edit and may
15 oversee the work of others in addition to creating their own content. Like Site Managers and
16 contributors, there is individual variation in the number of hours each Deputy Manager might devote
17 to performing services for Vox Media. If one makes the same assumptions I made above for Site
18 Managers and contributors relating to time spent watching games, reading comments, and consuming
19 third party news and commentary, then I believe it is reasonable to estimate that an individual in the
20 role of Deputy Manager could devote 25 hours per week to the team brand while the covered team is
21 in season.
22 9. Because Site Managers, Deputy Managers, and contributors work entirely on their own
23 schedules and Vox Media does not require any particular hours worked, it is difficult to estimate how
24 a particular individual’s hours per week are broken down over the course of the week. It is possible
25 that a contributor might choose to work longer periods of time during a day or week, while in other
26 instances, an contributor might choose to work more for shorter periods of time across the entire week.
27 10. Although there is typically more new content on SB Nation sites while teams are in
28 season, sites continue to offer new content year-round. Moreover, pre-season and post-season games
Gibson, Dunn & 2
Crutcher LLP
DECLARATION OF JOHN NESS IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT’S OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO
REMAND -- 18-CV-06807-PJH
Case 4:18-cv-06807-PJH Document 26-2 Filed 01/04/19 Page 4 of 4
1 and off season events like player drafts are also covered by contributors in the same fashion as regular
2 season games.
3 11. Because SB Nation team brands devoted to a particular college or university typically
4 cover multiple sports, the amount of new content produced is more consistent year-round and does not
5 have the same traditional "off season" considerations as team brands devoted to individual sports
6 teams.
7 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States that the foregoing is true
. 't�
8 and correct, and that this declaration was executed on this l/ day of January, 2019.
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DECLARATION OF JOHN NESS IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT'S OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFF'S MOTION TO
REMAND -- l 8-CV-06807-PJH
