PITTSBURGH - An attorney filed a class-action lawsuit challenging the University of Pittsburgh's new basketball season ticket policy, which allows the school to reassign some seats depending upon how much a ticket holder donates to the school.

"Many hardworking people who have been loyal supporters of Pitt for decades could lose their seats or have their seats changed every year under this new plan," attorney and season-ticket holder John Stember said Tuesday.

University officials said they do not comment on pending lawsuits.

Before the Petersen Events Center opened in 2002, Stember said, the university promoted a plan that promised season ticket holders the same seats every year if they maintained or increased their contributions to a fundraising program then known as "Team Pittsburgh" and now called "The Panther Club."

Stember said Pitt announced last month that all non-Club season tickets will be reassigned annually based on a point score which includes, among other things, how much money ticket holders give to a new sports fund-raising drive. The plaintiffs likened that process to a silent auction, saying that people could lose their seats to others who gave more money.

Stember said he was suing on behalf of 500 to 1,000 people who bought tickets in a general seating area that will likely be affected by the new policy.

"They advertised this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get your seats assigned," Stember said of the 2002 policy, which he wants the court to enforce. "I guess a lifetime passes quickly."

Stember wants an Allegheny County judge to order the school to let current season ticket holders keep their seats if they maintain or increase their donations. The seats are set to be reassigned in May.

Pitt announced the new program as part of a $45 million campaign to fund more athletic scholarships and to build better facilities for some secondary sports.

"It's not our goal to force the common man out, nor do we believe this new structure does that," Pitt athletic director Jeff Long said when the policy was announced. "By the same token, we feel as though we need to tap into what I believe to be tremendous potential for growth."