Update On Lawsuit Against Vince McMahon, Rock, WWE & More Over ‘Trade Secrets’

A new report has the latest on the lawsuit filed against Vince McMahon, WWE, The Rock, ESPN and more alleging the sharing of “trade secrets” in connection to the XFL. As was reported back in July, David Adrian Smith filed suit against McMahon, WWE, Dani Garcia, ESPN, Dwayne Johnson, Dick Ebersol, WWE Chief Financial Officer Frank Riddick, Riddick’s wife Carol and others alleging that all parties involved have been made privy to, used, and/or shared “disclosed confidential trade secret information” throughout the creation of the most recent XFL as well as the new, upcoming version.

According to PWInsider, the court asked Smith on August 25th to fill out a questionnaire detailing why he was filing the lawsuit before the court would move forward on it. Smith’s response echoed his previous statements that he made in the original lawsuit without providing new information; namely, that Smith disclosed the trade secret information on to Carol Riddick in order to talk with Frank Riddick to found out what he had learned from the original XFL so that he could launch his own version, and that they had then disclosed that information to others. The information was then, by Smith’s allegations, passed on to successive owners and people involved in the rebooted XFL league (as well as the upcoming one), all without his authorization. The information allegedly included “market analysis, opportunity analysis, strategic analysis and other business information regarding a concept for a minor league or developmental league spring football league,” and he alleges that he told Carol in his first email, “Please feel free to share with Mr. Riddick but ya’ll keep it under your hats until we have a chance to discuss how to proceed or that it has not merit.”

The new report notes that Smith has asked that he be allowed to move forward with the suit without paying court fees, as he doesn’t have the financial resources or backing of the defendants, and that Smith also needs to divert resources to an unrelated legal matter that he called “false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution and violation of civil rights” due to his failure to adhere to mask mandates on Texas public transportation in August of 2021. He says that his arrest for that matter took place in August of 2021 and was thrown out, and he “must secure counsel to pursue their rights in that matter as well, which, quite frankly, is a distraction from this matter which Plaintiff considers much more pressing and important. But an abuse took place and must be answered, which acts as a further drain on Plaintiff’s already limited resources.”

As of yet, there has been no movement beyond the questionnaire and the aforementioned motion. There is no record as of yet with the court than any of the defendants have been served with the lawsuit.