The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City has dismissed a lawsuit launched by former WWE wrestlers who claimed the company did not do enough to protect them from concussions.
Those wrestlers believe the injuries they sustained resulted in brain damage and other permanent injuries, issues.
The WWE issued a statement about the decision.
“For nearly six years, WWE was subjected to stale and frivolous claims brought by Konstantine Kyros, whose misconduct triggered countless judicial opinions along the way. Today, the Second Circuit put an end to his pattern of baseless litigation, leaving open only the question of how much he must now pay to WWE as a sanction for his misconduct. We are grateful for the attention paid to these cases by the numerous federal judges who oversaw the litigation, and to the Second Circuit for its decision,” read the statement.
The lawyer for wrestlers including Road Warrior Animal, Jimmy Snuka, King Kong Bundy, Mr. Fuji and others was quick to respond to the decision. Those wrestlers claimed the WWE knew about the potential damage but didn’t take any action.
“In its conclusory assertions the injured wrestlers find no justice having been literally denied a day in court. Per this mandate wrestlers have no rights, no rights to bring a lawsuit, no rights to help from WWE for CTE & head injuries, no rights as misclassified employees, no rights to a jury, and ironically no right to even appeal!” Konstantine Kyros wrote to the Associated Press.
The decision supports a judgment made by a Connecticut court in 2018 which ruled that some of the assertions in the suit were frivolous or void because they did not meet the statute of limitations on such claims. U.S. District Judge Vanessa Bryant also ruled that the WWE had no way of knowing that head injuries could lead to CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy).
