Kevin Kelly & Tate Twins’ appeal of AEW lawsuit arbitration ruling gets dismissed
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.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.