AEW Files Motion To Move Kevin Kelly & Tate Twins Lawsuit To Federal Court

AEW has filed a motion seeking to move the lawsuit filed by Kevin Kelly and the Tate Twins against it to federal court. As previously reported, Kelly and the Tate Twins (aka The Boys) filed suit against AEW, Tony Khan, and Ian Riccaboni on September 6th. The lawsuit seeks to void the trios’ arbitration clauses in their contracts and certify a class-action lawsuit, arguing that AEW is misclassifying its talent as independent contractors rather than employees. Kelly is also alleging Riccaboni and AEW of defamation in regard comments by Riccaboni about Kelly’s support of Sound of Freedom, while the Tates accuse Tony Khan of defamation in regard to claims that they no-showed events.

Brandon Thurston and John Pollock report for Wrestlenomics that the defendants filed a request on Friday to move the case to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Attorneys for the defendants are arguing that the case meets multiple thresholds under the Class Action Fairness Act. The CAFA applies “to any class action before or after the entry of a class certification order by the court with respect to that action.” The case was originally filed in Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia.

According to Wrestlenomics, the factors for qualifying 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 report goes on to state that in regards to claims of misclassification issue, there are two classes: “all current and former Talent” which would presumably cover non-wrestling talent, and “all current and former Wrestlers” which covers wrestlers. They would cover all talent and wrestlers who worked for AEW from September 1st, 2022, to now.

Chris Harrington, AEW’s Senior Vice President of Business Strategy, said in a declaration that between those dates, 290 people provided services to AEW as wrestlers or non-wrestling talent under independent contractor agreements. AEW paid those members “more than $60,000,000 in the aggregate.” Harrington goes on to say that 10 members of the class have residency in Pennsylvania, which is about 3.4% of the class. It also says 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.” AEW would also “incur costs in connection with employee benefits of approximately $18,125 annually per employee, meaning $5,256,250 per year in the aggregate” should members be reclassified as employees. AEW has an estimate of $14,594,125 in expenses associated, including an estimated 30% for attorney fees.

Kelly and the Tate Twins reportedly plan to respond by requesting that the case be returned to the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia.