Exterior photographs taken on Dec. 23, 2016 of the "Titan Tower,” the WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.
Exterior photographs taken on Dec. 23, 2016 of the "Titan Tower,” the WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.
Photo: Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut MediaExterior of the main entrance taken on Dec. 23, 2016 of the "Titan Tower,” the WWE headquarters based in Stamford, Connecticut.
Exterior of the main entrance taken on Dec. 23, 2016 of the "Titan Tower,” the WWE headquarters based in Stamford, Connecticut.
Photo: Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut MediaExterior photographs taken on Dec. 23, 2016 of the "Titan Tower," the WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.
Exterior photographs taken on Dec. 23, 2016 of the "Titan Tower," the WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.
Photo: Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut MediaSTAMFORD — World Wrestling Entertainment faces several more rounds of legal wrangling in 2017 with a long-standing opponent. But the fight could finally come to an end this year.
WWE filed late last month in U.S. District Court in Connecticut a motion to dismiss the amended version of a class-action lawsuit filed last year by Joseph “Road Warrior Animal” Laurinaitis and more than 50 other former wrestlers and impose sanctions against the plaintiffs’ attorneys. The plaintiffs’ legal team includes Konstantine Kyros, an attorney who has filed six lawsuits against WWE in recent years and whose conduct has drawn rebukes from WWE and from judges hearing the cases.
“We’ve presented all our arguments to the court as to why this case is as meritless as the ones that were thrown out,” Jerry McDevitt, WWE’s lead legal counsel, said in an interview this week. “We are optimistic that this case will suffer the same fate.”
A message left Thursday for Kyros was not immediately returned.
McDevitt and his colleagues argued that the plaintiffs’ lawyers filed the amended complaint last November in response to the WWE team’s move to dismiss the original Laurinaitis lawsuit and the defendants’ filing of an earlier motion for sanctions.
In their latest brief, the WWE legal team wrote that the amended complaint “continues to be plagued by the same false allegations and defective legal claims that permeated” the original lawsuit. The Laurinaitis lawsuit centers on the argument that WWE is responsible for neurological damage the plaintiffs suffered while wrestling.
“The resulting allegations form the basis for plaintiffs’ fabricated claim in this case that WWE ‘knew for decades’ or ‘has known or should have known for many years’ about the reported long-term risks of neurological injuries in wrestling and fraudulently concealed such information from its performers,” WWE’s lawyers wrote.
Kyros has faced judicial admonishment several times for his handling of the WWE litigation, but has not been sanctioned. Judge Vanessa Bryant, who is hearing the Laurinaitis case, chastised Kyros last November when she dismissed two wrongful death lawsuits filed by former wrestlers’ families.
“Kyros’ unprovable claim that deceased and, in at least one case, cremated former wrestlers had CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), ‘upon information and belief’ are highly unprofessional,” Bryant wrote. “These misleading, deceptive and baseless allegations are precisely the types of statements that many state bar associations have targeted in promulgating rules of professional conduct which demand that admitted attorneys speak with candor to the trier of fact.”
Bryant could reach a decision in the Laurinaitis case later this year.
The outcome could significantly influence public perception of WWE’s brand, said Robert Bird, professor of business law and chairman in business ethics at the University of Connecticut’s School of Business.
“If WWE’s consumers and fans connect concussions and CTE with the wrestling experience and believe that CTEs are a substantial risk for their beloved wrestlers, that could be a real problem,” Bird said. “That’s something WWE needs to take care of now. The safety of wrestlers is paramount in the long term for the wrestlers’ sake and WWE’s own.”
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