In a major win for WWE, the U.S. Supreme Court today declined to hear the appeal of the case brought forward by Konstantine Kyros against the company on behalf of his clients related to brain damage.
Kyros, who represented over 50 former WWE Superstars in the case, filed an appeal asking the Supreme Court to review the lower court rulings which dismissed his lawsuits in February. Five former stars who pushed forward for the appeal were William Haynes, Russ McCullough, Ryan Sakoda, Matthew Wiese, and the wife of the late Viscera. The original lawsuit alleged that these former wrestlers are either suffering from symptoms of permanent degenerative neurological conditions resulting from traumatic brain injuries sustained during their employment, or are at increased risk of developing such conditions.
The Supreme Court smackdown now effectively kills the case once and for all.
The Associated Press covered the ruling and comments from WWE’s attorney Jerry McDevitt. “We’re glad it’s finally over. We were completely vindicated,” McDevitt said. Now, WWE is seeking damages of over half a million dollars in legal costs.
Kyros was defiant in defeat, saying that wrestlers are dying of CTE despite the inaction of the justice system,. “Our team is proud to have brought their claims to our highest court and hopeful that this brings awareness to their ongoing struggles.”
The original lawsuit was filed in July 2016 but in September 2018, United States District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant dismissed all lawsuits in a 40-page judgment. The judge wrote that the Court has has been “extremely forgiving” of Kyros and his co-counsels’ “highly questionable practices.” She noted that despite four chances to submit pleadings that comply with rules, Kyros has persisted in asserting pages and pages of frivolous claims and allegations for which he lacked any factual basis.
Discover more from Wrestling-Online.com
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.