Tag: Tate Twins

Kevin Kelly & Tate Twins’ appeal of AEW lawsuit arbitration ruling gets dismissed

Posted on by Josh Nason

An appeal of a June decision in the lawsuit brought against AEW, Tony Khan and Ian Riccaboni by announcer Kevin Kelly and Brandon & Brent Tate has been dismissed.

Reported Wednesday night by Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston, the Eleventh Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal because the original case was stayed (when a case is temporarily halted or legal proceedings are suspended either for the entire case or a portion of it). Because of that, they could not review the decision.

In June, a judge had ordered the case to go to arbitration which is when it was initially “administratively closed,” hence the aforementioned decision.

About the AEW, Kevin Kelly & Tate Twins lawsuit

Via lawyer Stephen P. New, Kelly and the Tates filed the suit against AEW in late-August 2024 with Kelly alleging defamation from AEW and Riccaboni stemming from the latter’s comments on a Discord channel regarding Kelly mentioning a film on-air that was associated with QAnon conspiracies.

The Tates were fired in April 2024 with Khan saying it was due to them no-showing events. The brothers said it was due to miscommunication between themselves and management due to flying out of an airport that was further away from their usual one. Their defamation claim is based on that no-show comment.

Two weeks ago, Brandon Tate said AEW pulled The Outrunners from an indie show where they were set to face each other, causing the show to be canceled.

Kelly, fired by AEW in March 2024, is seeking monetary damages due to a breach of contract. Kelly and the Tates, via New, were also requesting the court void the arbitration clause of their talent contracts, and certify a class action lawsuit over AEW misclassifying its talent as independent contractors rather than employees.

The case was moved to Florida at AEW’s request after initially going to Pennsylvania federal court.

Judge orders AEW, Kevin Kelly & Tate Twins lawsuit to go to arbitration

Posted on by Josh Nason

AEW won a ruling in court Wednesday as a judge ordered a 2024 lawsuit filed by announcer Kevin Kelly and wrestlers the Tate Twins (formerly The Boys) to go to arbitration.

First reported by Post Wrestling, judge Harvey E. Schlesinger from the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida granted a previous motion by AEW to move to arbitration as is stated in contracts Kelly, Brendan Tate, and Brandon Tate had signed.

However, the judge denied AEW’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit altogether and ordered it “administratively closed” which makes the case inactive as arbitration proceeds. They must give updates to the court every 90 days, but the details of those updates might not be public.

About the AEW, Kevin Kelly & Tate Twins lawsuit

Via lawyer Stephen P. New, Kelly and the Tates filed the suit against AEW in late-August 2024 with Kelly alleging defamation from AEW and announcer Ian Riccaboni stemming from Riccaboni’s comments on a Discord channel regarding Kelly mentioning a film on-air that was associated with QAnon conspiracies.

The Tates were fired in April 2024 with AEW head Tony Khan saying it was due to no-showing events. The brothers said it was due to miscommunication between themselves and management due to flying out of an airport that was further away from their usual one. Their defamation claim is based on that no-show comment.

Kelly, fired by AEW in March 2024, is seeking monetary damages due to a breach of contract. Kelly and the Tates, via New, was also requesting the court void the arbitration clause of their talent contracts, and certify a class action lawsuit over AEW misclassifying its talent as independent contractors rather than employees.

The case was moved to Florida at AEW’s request after initially going to Pennsylvania federal court.

It’s the second arbitration Khan and AEW find themselves in as they are also going through that process with Ryan Nemeth following a ruling made in April.