Scott D'Amore finds himself at the center of the ongoing lawsuit between Jeff Jarrett and IMPACT Wrestling parent company Anthem,
The lawsuit between Jarrett and Anthem revolves around the usage, and deleted, of the GFW Amped tapes. Jarrett and GWE hit IMPACT and Anthem with a lawsuit in August 2018, suing over copyright infringement pertaining to their use of Jarrett's name and likeness along with their use of GFW Amped content.
In the latest updated from PWInsider, Jarrett's side is pursing to depose Scott D'Amore. However, D'Amore is a Canadian citizen and cannot be ordered by the United States court to submit himself to be deposed. Jarrett's side could pay $4,000 in legal fees, but the lawsuit would be delayed until D'Amore testifies. Anthem argues that D'Amore is an independent contractor and cannot be forced to testify.
Jarrett's side argued, “Mr. D’Amore is a key fact witness who will testify at least as to (1) when Defendant actually decided to terminate Plaintiff Jarrett; (2) Defendant’s decision to air content for which it knew it had not rights despite the risk of litigation (see email attached as Exhibit 2) after Mr. Jarrett’s termination; (3) his taking over Plaintiff Jarrett’s role upon Plaintiff Jarrett’s termination; (4) Defendant’s refusing to pay for the use of the content even though it knew it had an obligation to do so; (5) the value of the content at issue if it was independently created; and (6) Defendant’s ongoing use of Plaintiff Global Force Entertainment, Inc.’s trademarks without payment to Plaintiff Global Force Entertainment, Inc.”
They also argued "Defendant has known of Plaintiffs’ request to depose Mr. D’Amore for months. Yet, Defendant took the position that it would not accept service or tell Mr. D’Amore to appear for a deposition. Had Defendant simply told Plaintiffs or their counsel that Mr. D’Amore was going to be in Nashville on November 19, 2019, the deposition (which is expected not to last more than 2 to 3 hours) could have easily, inexpensively, and timely been completed without needing to go beyond the discovery deadline, spend $4000+ for letters rogatory, and without involvement of the Court. By the time Defendant’s learned Mr. D’Amore was in Nashville, it was too late to serve him with a subpoena. Plaintiffs’ counsel reached out to Mr. D’Amore’s alleged attorney (according to Mr. D’Amore) on November 20, 2019, yet there is presently no confirmation that Mr. D’Amore is willing to attend a deposition via teleconference. In fact, Mr. D’Amore’s attorney did not clearly confirm he is Mr. D’Amore’s attorney by responding with a vague reference as to with Mr. D’Amore had a retainer.”
Anthem responded, “Defendant’s position is simple. Mr. D’Amore is an independent contractor, not an employee. He is a resident and citizen of Windsor, Canada. When Plaintiff asked to depose him in Toronto, Defendant’s counsel inquired of her client as to his whereabouts and availability. The client informed Defendant’s counsel that Mr. D’Amore was an independent contractor and had his own legal counsel and that he lived and worked four hours away from Toronto. Defendant’s counsel asked her client to ask Mr. D’Amore whether he would authorize her to accept service for him. Mr. D’Amore relayed back that Defendant’s counsel did not have the authority to accept service for him and that he had his own legal counsel. In the absence of Mr. D’Amore’s agreement and granting of authority, Defendant’s counsel cannot accept service for him, especially outside the country where he lives and works."
Anthem also does not “consider Mr. D’Amore to be an important player in this drama, yet Plaintiff obviously disagrees. In fact, Plaintiffs revealed Mr. D’Amore as an individual with discoverable knowledge in their own initial disclosures served over a year ago” and that Jarrett’s side sought to depose D’Amore as far back as April, so they cannot complain that Anthem “has hidden Mr. D’Amore’s existence or that they didn’t realize he was important to their case.”
D’Amore currently owns 5% of Global Force Entertainment and is “a silent shareholder with no functions, responsibilities, or ongoing involvement with the company. Global Force Entertainment, Inc., a corporation, has no more authority to force Mr. D’Amore to show up for a deposition than Walmart would have to force someone who owns shares in that company.”
Anthem argues that because D'Amore is a shareholder, Jarrett knew D'Amore was a Canadian citizen and "that is a problem of his own making."
The two sides were ordered to work out details for D’Amore to take part in a 2-3 hour deposition, either in person or via video conference. A deposition has yet to take place.
