On September 4, Kevin Kelly and The Boys, also known as The Tate Twins (Brandon Tate and Brent Tate), brought a lawsuit against AEW, Tony Khan, and Ian Riccaboni.
In the suit, the plaintiffs seek to void the arbitration clause of their talent contracts and request the court to certify a class-action suit against AEW over claims the company is misclassifying its wrestling talent as independent contractors rather than employees.
According to Brandon Thurston And John Pollock of Wrestlenomics, the plaintiffs filed the complaint on September 6, and the defendants responded on Friday with a request to move the case to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Attorneys for AEW, Khan, and Riccaboni argue that the case meets multiple thresholds under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA), which applies “to any class action before or after the entry of a class certification order by the court with respect to that action.”
From Wrestlenomics:
Factors to qualify under CAFA include federal jurisdiction for class actions where the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million in the aggregate for the entire class and putative class, containing at least 100 members, and that any member of the putative class is a citizen of a state different than that of the defendant(s).
The misclassification issue is divided into two classes: “all current and former Talent”, presumably covering non-wrestler talent, and secondly, “all current and former Wrestlers”, covering wrestlers. The classes would cover all talent and wrestlers who worked for AEW from September 1, 2022, to the present.
In a declaration from AEW’s Senior Vice President of Business Strategy, Chris Harrington writes that between the dates in question, 290 individuals provided services for AEW as wrestlers or non-wrestling talent under independent contractor agreements and paid those members “more than $60,000,000 in the aggregate,” providing rare insight into AEW’s talent compensation.
Harrington adds that ten members of the class hold residency in the state of Pennsylvania, which equals 3.4% of the class.
It is also stated that AEW would incur a tax liability of “at least 9.95% of the pay rendered to Putative Class Members, meaning more than $5,970,000 in the aggregate.” As well, AEW would “incur costs in connection with employee benefits of approximately $18,125 annually per employee, meaning $5,256,250 per year in the aggregate," should they reclassify members as employees. AEW lists an estimate of $14,594,125 in expenses associated, which includes an estimated 30% allocated for attorney fees.
The plaintiffs plan to respond by requesting the case be returned to the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia.
A judge previously approved the sealing of their talent contracts (which are submitted as exhibits) and the redactions in their complaint that references their contracts.
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.
Fightful will continue to update fans as the story unfolds.
