A federal judge in Pennsylvania has ruled that the lawsuit filed by Kevin Kelly and The Tate Twins (Brandon Tate and Brent Tate) against AEW, Tony Khan, and Ian Riccaboni will be moved to federal court in Florida.
Brandon Thurston of POST Wrestling first reported the news.
From Thurston:
Judge Mia R. Perez’s ruling was issued on Thursday, siding with AEW, which argued that the talent contracts the plaintiffs signed included clauses requiring disputes to be litigated in Florida, where AEW is headquartered in Duval County.
Perez decided that those clauses in their contracts were in fact enforceable, rejecting arguments from the plaintiffs that they were unfair or unreasonable. The judge cited that most of the contracts, evidence, and witnesses for this case are based in Florida.
AEW also filed a motion to compel arbitration, which could force the plaintiffs to resolve their claims privately, outside of any public court, as their talent contracts purportedly require. Both sides have already submitted arguments on the issue of the enforceability of the arbitration clauses, as well.
With the case being moved to Florida, a new judge will decide whether the arbitration clauses should be enforced.
Fans can learn more about AEW's argument to move the case here.
Kevin Kelly joined AEW in June 2023 as the new play-by-play announcer for AEW Collision alongside Nigel McGuinness. Kelly's time at AEW was short-lived, as the company released him in March 2024. Before his time officially ended, Kelly made a series of social media posts that called out Ian Riccaboni for libel and trying to sabotage his career.
AEW released The Boys in April. Tony Khan claimed that The Boys no-showed multiple bookings and stood by these comments after The Boys denied Khan's claims.
