Wrestlers' Suit Against WWE Tossed Out

A federal judge has bodyslammed former World Wrestling Entertainment wrestlers by dismissing a lawsuit that claimed the wrestlers had been denied certain economic benefits because they were misclassified as independent contractors.

Former WWE performers Scott "Raven" Levy, Christopher "Kanyon" Kluscartis and "Above Average" Michael Sanders claimed they should have been treated as employees because the Stamford-based WWE controls their salaries, performance locations, costumes, training regimen and the storylines they follow. Further, the lawsuit alleged, the WWE improperly withheld Social Security and Medicare taxes from the federal government because of the wrestlers' independent contractor status.

The wrestlers' attorney, David Golub of Silver, Golub & Teitell in Stamford, also claimed that the wrestlers' were denied employee benefits such as health care, paid sick time and vacation.

Golub was seeking class action status, but late last week Senior U.S. District Judge Peter Dorsey granted WWE's motion to dismiss in federal court in New Haven. He said the wrestlers signed a contract that acknowledged their status as independent contractors.

The issue of workers' classification has been a hot topic since the late 1990s when Microsoft was found to have misclassified some workers as independent contractors and temporary employees. Employers sometimes take such steps to cut benefit and liability insurance costs.

WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt, of K&L Gates, in Pittsburgh, said the most recent lawsuit was the first against WWE alleging worker misclassification. The decision "vindicates our position that these are big guys who signed big guy contracts," McDevitt told The American Lawyer. "And that the WWE paid them every dime they promised to pay them."

Golub told the Law Tribune he was "surprised" that his claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) were not addressed in Dorsey's ruling, especially after the case was removed from state court to federal court last summer.

Golub said he plans to file a motion for reconsideration by March 10.

Source: CTLawTribune.com