Chris Barkley still doesn’t have his 2023 Hugo Award trophy. And now he’s taken the 2023 Hugo Administrator to court.

Barkley was one of the winners who opted to have the Chengdu Worldcon Committee ship his trophy to the United States. The awards were sent to Hugo Administrator Dave McCarty. However, as McCarty told Barkley in February 2024, all of the display cases and some of the awards were damaged in transit from China. The damage to Barkley’s Hugo display box was so bad that it was totally unusable, the award base needed to be tightened up, and there was a notable chip in the paint on the panda. He told Chris he could either have the award the next day, or McCarty could have it repaired and restored. Chris decided to go with the repairs. He still hasn’t received his, although Barkley learned some others have gotten theirs.

That conversation happened just before Barkley received the information revealed in “The 2023 Hugo Awards: A Report on Censorship and Exclusion” (co-authored with Jason Sanford), which was published later the same month, and may have something to do with McCarty’s subsequent failure to turn over Barkley’s award.

Barkley’s efforts to follow up having been fruitless, he decided to take legal action against McCarty. Today was the first hearing in Cook County Small Claims Court. Barkley told his GoFundMe supporters this is what happened:

A Statement Sent to Chris Barkley’s GoFundMe Donors,
27 March 2025

Dear Donors,

Today I can finally reveal the somewhat historic action that was formally taken last month with the indispensable  help of your generous contributions.

On February 5th, 2025, I traveled from Cincinnati, Ohio to Chicago, Illinois to formally file a lawsuit in Cook County Small Claims Court against David Lawrence McCarty in the amount of $3000.00.

The reason for doing so was simple; I filed on behalf of any 2023 Hugo Award recipients, including myself, who, as of this date, have not received their Hugo Awards.

This lawsuit, which, to the best of my knowledge, is the first time anyone has EVER sued to recover a Hugo Award. It was initiated as a last resort to call attention to Mr. McCarty’s lack of response regarding the status of any of the awards being repaired and/or to be delivered to the 2023 recipients.

This morning, in a case called via Zoom in Cook County Courtroom 1103, Case Number 20251103122 was called. I was present as was Mr. McCarty.

The judge addressed Mr. McCarty first, asking for a comment about the case brought against him.  

Mr. McCarty then said, “I don’t think I owe anything.”  

Whether Mr. McCarty was probably referring to the monetary amount of the case. But as far as I’m concerned, he may as well have been talking about his recalcitrant  attitude towards sf fandom and his failure to live up to the responsibilities he was entrusted with.

When I was asked for comment by the judge, I responded that I was willing to work with Mr. McCarty to arbitrate the situation, the judge stated that Mr. McCarty HAD openly rejected arbitration with his statement.

The judge then set another Zoom meeting date for the morning of April 24th to set a trial date. She then told Mr. McCarty that if he wished to arbitrate the case before that then, he could do so at Daley Plaza on the sixth floor.

At no time did Mr. McCarty and I exchange any direct dialog.

Mr. McCarty, through a documented series of actions, words and deeds, has demonstrated that he does not care for courtesy, diplomacy, equity or the Constitution of the World Science Fiction Society.

Mr. McCarty, in just five minutes, could have agreed to send out any remaining Hugo Awards owed to the 2023 Hugo Award recipients, including myself, and satisfied a major complaint of his stewardship as the Chengdu Hugo Award Administrator.

Instead, he has deliberately chosen to needlessly prolong this legal proceeding and keep the recipient, and myself waiting for their awards.

I have also decided that if there were any leftover funds, either from this GoFundMe or from a settlement from Mr. McCarty, they would be donated equally between the Trans-Atlantic and Down-Under Fan Funds, two well known fan-run charities that I have greatly respected over the years.

Today marks an opening salvo in what I hope is the last battle for holding Mr. McCarty accountable for his neglect and malfeasance.

As for myself, I will continue to champion the cause of the 2023 Hugo Award recipients, in a Cook County courtroom and in the court of public opinion as well.

Chris M. Barkley
Cincinnati, OH