AEW is facing a lawsuit.
The Wrestling News reports that Kevin Kelly and The Boys, also known as The Tate Twins (Brandon and Brent Tate), have brought a lawsuit against AEW, amongst others. The suit was filed in the Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas by attorneys Stephen P. New & Benjamin Baer on August 30th. 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.
AEW released The Boys in April. At the media call ahead of ROH Supercard of Honor, Tony Khan claimed that The Boys no-showed multiple bookings. He later stated that he stood by these comments after The Boys denied them. This claim is at the center of the defamation allegation against Khan by Brandon and Brent Tate.
Kevin joined AEW in June 2023 and was part of the AEW Collision broadcast team. He was fired in March 2024, reportedly due to his comments on social media, in which he expressed his frustrations with the company and commentator Ian Riccaboni. He claimed that Riccaboni's behavior was libelous after Riccaboni accused him of being a member of QAnon.
According to The Wrestling News, Kelly is seeking monetary damages. He claims that AEW breached his contract and has interfered with his ability to find work elsewhere. Kelly also seeks monetary damages from Ian Riccaboni and claims that the QAnon accusation defamed him.
In a statement, attorney Stephen P. New commented on the lawsuit:
“I applaud the bravery of these Plaintiffs in bringing this long-overdue action, challenging the mis-classification of pro-wrestlers as independent contractors instead of employees. We know we are in for a long, hard fight, but in the end, I believe justice always prevails.” The Wrestling News will continue to follow this story," New said.
New also commented on the suit in a post on Twitter/X. He said that it was appropriate that they were seeking to correct, among other things, "the abhorrent practice of misclassification of pro wrestlers as independent contractors and not employees." He also claimed that all AEW wrestlers were now members of this "putative" class.
How fitting and appropriate that on Labor Day weekend a lawsuit is filed seeking to correct, among other things, the abhorrent practice of misclassification of pro wrestlers as independent contractors and not employees. All AEW wrestlers are now members of this putative class https://t.co/lEARTPAhBt
— Steve New (@StephenPNew) September 4, 2024
In a reply to his post, New was asked why they went after AEW, rather than WWE. He responded by saying, "Soon as we have plaintiffs who want to sue WWE for misclassification we will. Hopefully this litigation inspires someone to step up."
In June, Kevin Kelly claimed that he was going to sue AEW. He also discussed his AEW departure and his issues with Riccaboni.
Fightful will provide more information as it becomes available.
