Last August, Kevin Kelly, Brandon and Brent Tate filed a lawsuit against Tony Khan, All Elite Wrestling, and Ian Riccaboni, alleging that AEW has misclassified its talent as independent contractors. They are asking the court to certify a class action suit. In addition, Kelly alleged that AEW breached his contract, and he is seeking compensation from the former employer.
Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics reported that the defendants in the lawsuit (Khan, AEW and Riccaboni) are set to submit their response on Friday, October 11. The defendants are set to respond with three motions. Therefore, they asked to exceed the 20-page limit in favor of a 30-page limit.
In the first motion, the defendants will argue that the case should be dismissed due to improper venue. AEW will say it is improper because the lawsuit has been filed in state court. If the judge doesn’t dismiss the case, the defendants have a second motion to take the case to federal court. In the third motion, they want to move the case from public court to private arbitration because the plaintiffs’ contracts have arbitration clauses. However, Kevin Kelly, Brent and Brandon Tate argue that the clause is unfair and shouldn’t be enforced.