WE has been hit with a new lawsuit in regard to claims they hit the long-term effects of neurological injuries from talent. Pro Wrestling Sheet reports that a lawsuit was filed in federal court in New Haven, Connecticut today on behalf of a host of WWE alumni that includes Jimmy Snuka, Road Warrior Animal, Paul Orndorff, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Bryan Clark, Ahmed Johnson, Kamala, Dave Hebner, Earl Hebner, King Kong Bundy, Ken Patera, Sabu, Ax, Smash, The Berzerker, Shane Douglas, Muhammad Hassan, Henry Godwin, Mark Jindrak, Marty Jannetty, Heidenreich, Mantaur, One Man Gang and the estate of Axl Rotten.
The lawsuit claims that WWE failed to care for wrestlers’ repetitive head injuries “in any medically competent or meaningful manner” while misrepresenting and concealing the nature of long-term neurological injuries the talent suffered as a result of their careers. WWE had similar suits dismissed from the likes of Billy Jack Haynes and others via attorney Konstantine Kyros, but are still fighting a suit from Evan Singleton and Vito LoGrasso over the time they were employed and WWE had the Wellness Policy in place. It is not known whether the new suit is directly related to the previous ones or filed independently.
WWE has yet to comment on the story.
UPDATE: Konstantine Kyros has sent 411mania the full lawsuit filed today by him in US District Court in Connecticut against WWE over their alleged failure to care for their performers over repetitive head injuries. As reported earlier, Kyros represented past talent in now-dismissed concussion-related lawsuits against the company. The list of plaintiffs totals fifty-five former WWE employees; you can see the full list below. The 214-page lawsuit claims that WWE “routinely failed to care for the Named Plaintiffs’ repetitive head injuries during their career in any medically competent or meaningful manner that complied with any known published contact sports return to play guidelines at the time the injuries occurred.”
The lawsuit also claims that “continuing into 2016 the WWE has fraudulently misrepresented and concealed from the Plaintiffs the nature, extent of the occupational long-term neurological injuries that are present in each of the Named Plaintiffs as a consequence of their wrestling careers” in ways that include the company’s public statements questioning CTE diagnoses in the deaths of Chris Benoit and Andrew “Test” Martin and financial contributions to Chris Nowinski’s Concussion Legacy Foundation “which has ignored any study, care or treatment plan of the named Plaintiffs.”
The lawsuit also claims that WWE’s drug and alcohol programs targeting retired wrestlers “have delayed and prevented the Plaintiffs from obtaining diagnosis” for neurological diseases caused by their careers and that “WWE placed corporate gain over its wrestlers’ health, safety, and financial security, choosing to leave the Plaintiffs severely injured and with no recourse to treat their damaged minds and bodies.”
The lawsuit also says that WWE has “refused and continues to refuse to classify its wrestlers as employees” despite their “ironclad control over the Plaintiffs,” thus bringing the often-contentious issue within the industry of the company’s classification of its talent as independent contractors
The lawsuit also says that WWE has “refused and continues to refuse to classify its wrestlers as employees” despite their “ironclad control over the Plaintiffs,” thus bringing the often-contentious issue within the industry of the company’s classification of its talent as independent contractors.
411 has reached out to WWE for comment and will update the story when we have one.
You can read the full lawsuit, which goes into detail of each plaintiff’s health issues, here.
* Joe Laurinaitis (Road Warrior Animal)
* Jimmy Snuka (through his guardian, Carole Snuka)
* Paul Orndorff
* Chavo Guerrero Sr.
* Chavo Guerrero Jr.
* Bryan Clark
* Ahmed Johnson
* James Harris (Kamala)
* Dave Hebner
* Earl Hebner
* Chris Pallies (King Kong Bundy)
* Ken Patera
* Terry Michael Brunk (Sabu)
* Bill Eadie (Ax)
* Barry Darsow (Smash)
* John Nord (The Berzerker)
* Terry Szopinski (The Warlord)
* Stone Havea Vailahi (The Barbarian)
* Jonathan Hugger (Johnny The Bull)
* Jim Brunzell
* Shane Douglas
* Marc Copani (Muhammad Hassan)
* Mark Canterbury (Henry Godwin,)
* Mark Jindrak
* Marty Jannetty
* John Heidenreich
* Michael Halac (Mantaur)
* George Grey (One Man Gang)
* Susan Green
* Angelo Mosca
* Jim Powers
* Mike Enos
* Butch Reed
* Carlene Moore-Begnaud (Jazz)
* Rodney Begnad (Rodney Mack)
* Sylvain Grenier
* Omar Mijares (Omar Atlas)
* Don Leo Heaton
* Victoria Otis (Princess Victoria)
* Judy Hardee (Judy Martin)
* Bernard Knighton (Axl Rotten, through his estate)
* Bobbi Billiard
* Larry “The Crippler” Oliver
* Timothy Smith (Rex King)
* Tracy Smothers
* Rick Jones (Black Bart)
* Ken Johnson (Slick)
* Ferrin Jess Barr (JJ Funk)
* Lou Marconi
* Rod Price
* Donald Driggers
* Ronald Scott Heard (Outlaw Ron Bass)
* Boris Zhukov
Opinioanted View- I always say this when ever these lawsuits get filed "Let them play out." But Looking at this list I'm going to roll my eyes a bit at the claims. I mean Axel Rotten how much did he ever wrestle for WWE? I mean if he had concussions I'm looking at his ECW runs first. Black Bart and Tracy Smothers both wrestled all over for like 30 years.
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