An Iowa man is suing Nintendo for $341,000 after he was allegedly denied “Pokémon Professor” status because of his background check results.
Kyle Owens, 34, of Laurens, accused Nintendo of America and its affiliate, Pokémon Company International, of violating federal antitrust laws in a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, KCRG reported.
Owens is suing the company for $341,000 in damages. The lawsuit is also seeking an injunction that would award him a Pokémon Professor certification, provide him with access to “official Pokémon Professor tools” and allow him to host Pokémon events.
Fans of the popular franchise, which primarily caters to children, can take a test to become Pokémon Professors. With the title, people can work as assistants, judges and ambassadors for the Play! Pokémon program, according to the Pokémon website.
“The Pokémon Professor program is not merely recreational,” the lawsuit alleges.
The program “functions as a structured certification and authorization system, granting official status, access to official event tools, the ability to host sanctioned card and video-game matches, listing in an event locator, and opportunities that generate business traffic, customer attendance, product sales, good will and commercial advantage,” the lawsuit claims.
Owens claims in the lawsuit that he was told that he passed the test to become a Pokémon Professor with a score of 100 percent on March 12, 2024.
After receiving the good news, Owens was told he could be welcomed into the program and take his “first steps as a Pokémon Professor” after a background check, court exhibits showed.
However, the background check revealed that there was a pending arrest warrant for Owens issued by another state in 2022. The warrant was issued after he failed to appear in court on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct by engaging in fighting; possessing, repairing or selling an offensive weapon; and criminal mischief through property damage, according to the report.
The Pokémon Company International wrote to Owens on May 6, 2024 informing him that his “application to the professor program has been denied after reviewing the results of your background check.”
The letter suggested that, because of the results of his background check, his test score had dropped to 80 percent and he failed the test for professor status.
In the lawsuit, Owens said he was denied certification due to an “old, low-level felony that was more than 10 years old,” but that the rationale for his rejection later changed to the three misdemeanor charges, which didn’t “show guilty findings.”
The lawsuit also claims that by barring Owens from professor status, the company is reducing competition and consumer access by eliminating a qualified event host from the official Pokémon-run system.
The Independent has contacted Nintendo and Pokémon Company International for comment.
