Billy Jack Haynes sues WWE in federal court

Home / WWE News / Billy Jack Haynes sues WWE in federal court; lawyers seek class action status for 500 wrestlers
Billy Jack Haynes sues WWE in federal court; lawyers seek class action status for 500 wrestlersBy Greg Beck on October 25, 2014
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Former 80s WWE star Billy Jack Haynes is suing World Wrestling Entertainment in federal court for “egregious mistreatment of its wrestlers for its own benefit, as well as its concealment and denial of medical research and evidence concerning traumatic brain injuries suffered by WWE wrestlers," according to a 42 page lawsuit that was filed on Thursday. The story has been reported in the Portland Tribune. Haynes is looking to be granted class action status that his lawyers say could be 500 people who suffered injuries while wrestling for WWE.

“Under the guise of providing ‘entertainment,’ WWE has, for decades, subjected its wrestlers to extreme physical brutality that it knew, or should have known, caused long-term irreversible bodily damage, including brain damage," according to the lawsuit filed by Portland attorneys Steve D. Larson and Joshua L. Ross of the firm Stoll Stoll Bernie Lokting & Schlachter. “For most of its history, WWE has engaged in a campaign of misinformation and deception to prevent its wrestlers from understanding the true nature and consequences of the injuries they have sustained. WWE’s representations, actions, and inactions have caused its wrestlers to suffer from death, long-term debilitating injuries, lost profits, premature retirement, medical expenses, and other losses as alleged herein."

The lawsuit also claims that WWE is “tightly controlled by a small group of related executives who manage both polices and the conduct of wrestlers during matches. Vince McMahon has been chairman of WWE since the retirement of his father, Vince McMahon Sr., in 1980." The lawsuit since wrestlers are classified as independent contractors it does not provide past or current wrestlers with health insurance, disability insurance, or unemployment insurance and wrestlers are own their own when they retire.

Dangerous moves listed in the lawsuit include the brainbuster, bulldog, cobra clutch slam, facebreaker, jawbreaker, and the powerslam. Haynes says that during his time in the company he wrestled several days at a time with little or no offseason and had at least 15 concussions, numerous other injuries, and used drugs to manage the pain. He also claims to have contracted Hepatitis C from blows to the head from chairs, chains, and other weapons. The lawsuit also states that he suffers from depression and exhibits symptoms of dementia because of head trauma he sustained while with the company. Haynes was hospitalized in 2013 for aortic aneurysm, liver, and kidney issues.

The lawsuit asks the company to “a trust fund, in an amount to be determined, to pay for the medical monitoring of all wrestlers subjected to checks and hits, as frequently as determined to be medically necessary, as well as to pay to develop and research other methods by which the risk of those affected can be reduced."

link http://wrestlingnews.co/billy-jack-haynes-sues-wwe-in-federal-court-lawyers-seek-class-action-status-for-500-wrestlers/