Add another issue to Vince McMahon's list.
According to Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic, former XFL commissioner Oliver Luck is suing Vince McMahon for wrongful termination. The federal lawsuit was filed last week with Luck seeking unspecified damages.
The lawsuit is heavily redacted, but it does say, “Despite fulfilling his obligations as Commissioner and CEO since May 30, 2018, Mr. Luck was wrongfully terminated by Alpha Entertainment LLC (“Alpha”), an affiliate of Defendant, on April 9, 2020. Thus, Alpha has repudiated Mr. Luck’s employment agreement. Mr. Luck brings this action for breach of contract and declaratory judgment against McMahon.”
The lawsuit notes Alpha Entertainment, through bankruptcy court, has filed to have the court reject “Certain Executive Contracts.”
Luck’s complaint includes the line, “Mr. Luck wholly disputes and rejects the allegations set forth in the Termination Letter and contends they are pretextual and devoid of merit," which suggests McMahon fired Luck for cause.
Luck's termination letter and a letter where he disputes the reasons were attached to the complaint but sealed from public view.
McMahon, through his lawyer Jerry McDevitt, issued the following statement saying, "Oliver Luck's services as Commissioner and CEO of The XFL were terminated by a letter sent to him on Apr. 9, 2020 which explained the reasons for the termination. As to the lawsuit he filed, his allegations will be disputed and the position of Mr. McMahon will be set forth in our response to his lawsuit."
Luck was hired as the commissioner on a multi-year deal for at least $20 million per year. McMahon officially suspended XFL operations on April 10, laying off all employees. As noted in the complaint, Luck was fired on April 9. The XFL filed for bankruptcy on April 13.
Fightful will continue to update this story as the situation unfolds.
