WWE Gets Final Count in Concussion Lawsuit Dismissed

– The last count in the concussion lawsuits filed against WWE was dismissed on Wednesday. PWInsider reports that Judge Vanessa L. Bryant dismissed the final charge against the company, which was a claim by Vito LoGrasso and Evan Singleton of fraud by omission.

The suit against the company was one of several lawsuits that had been filed over the last several years, which charged that the company failed to protect talent in regard to concussions, CTE and the like. Most of the allegations had been thrown out with the exception of Lograsso and Singleton’s suit, which was allowed to move forward because they claimed that WWE became aware of “a link between repeated head trauma and permanent degenerative neurological conditions” and failed to disclose the information to talent.

In Judge Bryant’s ruling, she dismissed the counts and wrote, “After careful consideration of the evidence in the light most favorable to the Plaintiffs, the Court has determined that the evidence does not support a finding that WWE knew of a risk that repeated head injuries incurred while performing as a professional wrestler could cause permanent degenerative neurological conditions prior to September 5, 2007.”

The ruling said that LoGrasso’s case couldn’t move forward because “undisputed evidence in the record demonstrates that WWE did not know of a potential link between concussions and permanent degenerative neurological disorders until after LoGrasso stopped wrestling. LoGrasso therefore could not have relied upon any omission to choose to continue wrestling, and any injury he suffered while wrestling could not have resulted from WWE’s failure to state what it did not know.” The ruling also said that LoGrasso contacted WWE for a job as a trainer in 2009, but didn’t disclose that he’d been suffering from suffering from migraines, memory loss, depression and deafness which he claimed was a result of working for the company.

As for Singleton, Bryant agreed with WWE that they were not liable due to fraud by omission because, in WWE’s words, “it had developed a concussion testing and education program in which Singleton participated or should have participated prior to his injury during which WWE disclosed to Singleton the risk of sustaining a brain injury while wrestling.” Bryan said that Singleton hadn’t offered any evidence which suggested that WWE intentionally hid any information in order to gret Singleton to continue wrestling.

The judge took a shot at lawyer Konstantine Kyros, who has been at the forefront of many of the lawsuits, saying, “Once again, the Court notes Plaintiffs’ counsels have asserted facts and advanced legal theories for which there is no reasonable evidentiary and legal basis; and once again cautions that such conduct subjects counsel to Rule 11 sanctions. Counsel are advised to read the record in its entirety before filing anything with the Court to assure their reasonable belief in any and all future assertions of fact and law.”