March 27, 2018 The Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York Placed the WWE’s motions to dismiss various wrestlers appeals on the Court’s Calendar for Oral Argument by the attorneys on April 16, 2019 in New York City at The Thurgood Marshall Courthouse. [Updated as of 3/29- the Court has apparently rescheduling this date.](Incidentally the same day- 3/27/19 Vince McMahon sold 3,204,427 shares of WWE stock ($264+ million worth) to finance his new XFL league. Hmmm $264 million dollars to fund a new football venture- ZERO money to help wrestlers struggling to pay bills with broken bodies who struggle with long-term neurological injuries like CTE- but I will not go further lest I digress into frivolous inflammatory irrelevance.)
The Issues to be argued on at the hearing when it occurs are whether a March 2018 US Supreme Court Decision in Hall V. Hall foreclosed the wrestlers’ appeals. The wrestlers argue that the District Court in Connecticut consolidated the cases for all purposes- including the Right to Appeal (A position supported by the Second Circuit when Billy Jack Haynes and Russ McCullough, Matt Wiese and Ryan Sakoda Appealed earlier back when their claims were tossed out in 2016). The WWE’s lawyers in court filings and public comments derided the wrestler’s efforts to oppose the WWE motion to dismiss and actually bring their substantive appeal for their legal rights under the US Constitution as “frivolous.” The wrestlers argue that they have human rights and should be allowed to Appeal their cases.
The issues presented are somewhat complicated but addressed to the non-lawyer reader on this Blog here.
The 3/27/19 Appeals Court notice of the Hearing is here. (as of 3/29 a New notice apparently to be issued)
One of Mr. Kyros’s Oppositions to WWE’s Motions that summarizes the issues can be read here (11 pages).