WWE scored a court room victory today as the lawsuit brought against the company by former wrestlers regarding health, specifically concussions, CTE and other head-trauma related injuries has been dismissed.
PWInsider reports that Judge Vanessa L. Bryant of the United States District Court of Connecticut made the ruling on Monday.
Bryant ruled that the lawsuit led by attorney Konstantine Kyros, former wrestler Joe "Road Warrior Animal" Laurinaitis and 53 other plaintiffs, "did not comply with the Order and that declaratory judgment, dismissal, and sanctions are warranted." The court also ruled that many claims in the lawsuit were time-barred in the State of Connecticut, given that none of the Plaintiffs had worked for WWE past 2011 and many had not worked for the company well prior to that.
The lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice, which means none of the plaintiffs would ever be able to bring forth similar allegations against WWE legally.
Bryant also ruled in favor of WWE in a lawsuit against Blackjack Mulligan, Dynamite Kid, Ivan Koloff and Koko B. Ware where WWE was looking to block their attempts at suing the company.
Judge Bryant took aim at Kyros in her ruling, stating, "Attorney Kyros’ decision to assert frivolous claims has required the Court to waste considerable judicial resources sifting through three unreasonably long complaints filed in the Laurinaitis action, with the vague hope that some claim, buried within a mountain of extraneous information, might have merit."
Bryant previously ruled in favor of WWE in March, dismissing a 2015 concussion lawsuit issued by former wrestlers Evan Singleton and Vito LoGrasso. In regards to that case, Bryant stated, “The evidence does not support a finding that WWE knew of a risk that repeated head injuries incurred while performing as a professional wrestler could cause permanent degenerative neurological conditions."
Following the March ruling, WWE lawyer Jerry McDevitt said, "WWE has never concealed any medical information related to concussions, or otherwise, from our (performers). WWE was well ahead of sports organizations in implementing concussion management procedures and policies as a precautionary measure as the science and research on this issue emerged."
Despite WWE's victory on Monday, the fight may not be over. Kyros issued a statement to PWInsider, stating he plans on taking the lawsuit to appeals court.
McDevitt responded to Kyros' plan to take the lawsuit to appeals court but stating that Kyros should be "disbarred."
