Titus O’Neil Files Document to Have Swerved Thrown Out of Court

– As previously reported, Titus O’Neil is the target of a lawsuit in relation to a Swerved season one episode where he allegedly kicked the camera out of cameraman Donald Anderson’s hand during a segment in which WWE stars were shocked with a cattle prod. PWInsider has a new update and more details on the lawsuit.

Thaddeus Bullard (Titus O’Neil) has filed a motion to have the lawsuit thrown out of court because he says the United States District Court of California lacks legal jurisdiction over him. During the filmed segment, Donald Anderson claims that Bullard was shocked by Paige with electricity. This apparently enraged Bullard, who became enraged and went after Anderson, kicking him and injuring his hand, wrist, and fingers to the point he could not work. Anderson’s lawsuit also claims that he was told to leave the scene due to fear that Bullard might attack him again.

Anderson is reportedly suing O’Neil for $1.2 million for Battery, Assault, Willful Misconduct, Negligence, Gross Negligence, Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress and Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress. His suit also claims he’s not been able to work since the injury.

In Bullard’s filing on September 25, he stated that he’s not a resident of the state of California and lacked contacts for the court’s jurisdiction since a legal resident is currently suing him. The original lawsuit claimed that all of the defendants “do business in California,” but it failed to identify any address those business may be in the original lawsuit filing. The filing stated how Bullard lives in Florida and stated: “Mr. Bullard has never resided in California He owns no real property in California. He holds no interest in a private business in California. He has never had any offices or employees, rented any real property, or had a statutory agent in California. He has never owned or otherwise held or otherwise had any bank accounts, licenses or business operations in California. He has never had any telephone listing or mailing address in California. Bullard has never at any time purposefully chosen to do business in the State of California, including but not limited to the County of Los Angeles therein. Other than sporadic work he may do under contract with WWE, Bullard has not engaged in any business in California.”

The filing also notes that since Bullard is not a California resident, it would put an unfair burden on him to travel regularly to the state for the lawsuit. Bullard’s filing from this month notes that Anderson’s side will claim that Bullard gave a TED Talk at a Los Angeles event last May. The document stated: “Aside from the isolated nature of the appearance and lack of compensation, as Bullard had no alternative except attending the lecture in California if he wanted to exercise his rights under the First Amendment and participate and engage in the particular public discussion and discourse that he was requested to engage in, it cannot be said that he purposefully interjected himself into California.”

Titus O’Neil wants the lawsuit moved to Florida or Virginia, where the alleged incident took place. A hearing on the issue is set for October 23 at 2:00 pm in Los Angeles.