City Councilor Suing Wrestling School & Instructors For $3 Million, Alleging Negligence Caused Her Granddaughter’s Death

A story about the death of a wrestling trainee.

BayToday published a story about a North Bay city councilor named Lana Mitchell who is suing the wrestling school ‘Canadore College’ and its instructors for $3 million, alleging negligence that caused the death of her granddaughter Alexis Leduc-Mitchell.

Below is an excerpt from the article:

The suit surrounds the death of Alexis ‘Lexie’ Marie Leduc-Mitchell, granddaughter of Coun. Lana Mitchell, who was elected to North Bay City council earlier in 2022. She is best known as the executive director of LIPI (Low Income People Involvement) of Nipissing, a role she held for more than three decades.

The suit alleges Leduc-Mitchell’s death, which occurred Dec. 16, 2022, was caused by injuries she obtained while training at Northland Wrestling’s NRGY Professional Wrestling Academy, located in North Bay. Also included in the suit is the owner of the building where the NRGY Academy was located, BT Holdings Inc. and Canadore College, as Lexie was a student at the time of her death.

The statement of claim accuses Canadore College of breach of contract and negligence, stating the post-secondary school “failed to screen or vet the well-known professional wrestling activities,” which could “endanger the health or lives of its students,” lobbing the same claims against BT Holdings, the owner of the building at 559 Main Street East, which houses the wrestling school. Both companies deny the accusations, Canadore formally through a statement of defence.

But, it’s the owner of both Northland and NRGY Academy, Dann Pigozzo (wrestling under the name Dann Jarris) as well as Lexie’s Canadore theatre professor, Joshua Bainbridge, (known as wrestler, Josh Bain) who face the most allegations.

“During the course of her advanced theatrical training at the wrestling school, Lexie sustained significant injuries, including traumatic brain injuries,” reads the statement of claim, filed by Mitchell’s lawyer on Dec. 13, 2024. “Despite these injuries, the documents state Lexie was ‘encouraged by Bainbridge and Pigozzo to continue her theatrical training’ at NRGY and on December 14, 2022, ‘sustained a final traumatic brain injury’.”

The documents state Leduc-Mitchell “suffered horribly from her final traumatic brain injury and languished in hospital fighting for her life, with Lana, Patrick and Rodney at her side, until she eventually succumbed to her injuries and died on December 16, 2022.”

Bainbridge has denied the allegations in writing and points to Pigozzo and Northland in a counterclaim; Pigozzo has filed notice of his intention to defend himself in court.

Leduc-Mitchell’s estate is suing the four defendants for damages “for personal injuries suffered by and leading to the eventual wrongful death” of the 19-year-old, as well as damages under the Family Law Act, which details the care that Leduc-Mitchell could have offered her aging grandparents. Additionally, the pain and suffering of her family is included, with damages claimed totaling $3 million.

As more information regarding the ongoing case becomes available, we’ll update you here on Fightful.