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United States Magistrate Judge Walter E. Johnson (who replaced Judge Charles A. Pannell last month) ruled that he was agreeing with WWE on several points and would dismiss a number of claims against the company, but not all. In an attempt to make the case easier to follow, I've broken down the lawsuit based on the claims that Johnson dismissed or ruled would continue on as part of the case..
HAMILTON'S BREACH OF CONTRACT CLAIM GOES FORWARD
Hamilton's version of events was that he and DSW were "fully compliant" with their contractual agreement with World Wrestling Entertainment. That partnership saw Hamilton personally paid a salary of $80,000 and Deep South Wrestling, the company, paid $80,000 to provide developmental training for WWE talents. They were to also provide a TV outlet, which the lawsuit claims was provided and aired in the Southeastern United States and Canada (briefly on The Fight Network) - for those talents as part of a "talent exchange program".
Hamilton claimed that the contractual agreement between the two sides allowed for their deal to be severed, but only with 90 days' written notice between the sides. Hamilton alleged that WWE ignored that clause and instead "arranged through an intentional and calculated method" to show up and shut down the territory at DSW's place of business without providing notice to Hamilton or DSW.
In response, WWE claimed Hamilton and DSW "failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted" and that the lawsuit failed to address any alleged wrongdoing on WWE's part in regard to the end of the DSW relationship. WWE's attorneys claimed the entire situation was, "a misguided attempt to use litigation to lash out against WWE over disappointment with WWE's decision to terminate the parties' business relationship." WWE also claimed that contractually, they had every right to sever the agreement.
On 10/2, Judge Johnson sided with Hamilton, stating that under Georgia law, Hamilton's complaint adequately alleges breach of contract based on WWE allegedly ignoring the 90 days' notice when severing their agreement with DSW. Johnson said that WWE's response that Hamilton had "failed to address" wrongdoing was without merit.
WWE DID NOT INTERFERE WITH DSW'S CONTRACT AND RELATIONSHIP WITH DSW WRESTLERS
When WWE officials John Laurinaitis and Mike Bucci came to Deep South Wrestling's headquarters on 4/17/07, Hamilton alleged that WWE "made every effort" to prevent him from knowing they were coming to the premises. Hamilton claimed in the lawsuit that WWE's "plans were to remove all personal and computer information" without anyone from DSW being present. Hamilton's lawsuit also alleged that when WWE shut down the territory, they "removed wrestling rings, seating, computer hardware, software, and information belonging to DSW."
The suit noted that "shared personnel" were informed they were being transferred (to OVW and later FCW) and that they should have "no further dealing" with Hamilton and DSW. That order, according to Hamilton, was disastrous for his company. Hamilton had set up a series of live DSW events to be performed at the Six Flags park in Georgia as well as additional events to benefit The American Cancer Society and M.A.A.D.A. later that summer. In the case of the Six Flags events, Hamilton had arranged for WWE to send main roster talents to each of those shows. When WWE killed their DSW agreement, those charity events ended up canceled, causing DSW liability damages in the amount of $320,000 and Hamilton personal damages to the tune of $56,000. Hamilton has claimed WWE used "mob-like tactics" to prevent talents from working for his charity events in the wake of shutting down the territory, noting no one wanted to cross WWE as they control the wrestling business.
Hamilton's suit alleged that John Laurinaitis gathered all of the "independent wrestlers" scheduled to perform on said events and, "issued an ominous warning. He cautioned them that 'if they ever stepped foot in this (DSW's facility) building again or had anything to do with Hamilton or DSW', their relationship with WWE would end and they would 'never work again in the wrestling industry." Hamilton claimed that "not one wrestler" was willing to step foot onto one of his scheduled shows for fear of crossing WWE. In his lawsuit, Hamilton noted that WWE classifies their contracted talent as "independent contractors" and shouldn't be able to instruct them where to work, and treat them as employees by ordering them not to work for DSW. As previously noted here, obviously a huge percentage of DSW's roster were made up by WWE developmental talents signed to WWE, not DSW.
WWE's response to their alleged interference with DSW wrestlers was that they couldn't have done so based on the virtue that there were no contracts between DSW and the wrestler in the first place, since WWE has assigned their own contracted talents to the territory in the first place. WWE also stated Hamilton and DSW had failed to present any arguments that WWE induced others not to work with and for DSW, especially since the talents were under contract to WWE to begin with.
On 10/2, Johnson wrote that to establish tortuous interference with contractual obligations, Hamilton would have to provide "the existence of a valid contract" and that WWE acted purposely to prevent that contract from being executed in order to financially hurt DSW. Since DSW failed to show proof that any wrestlers were under contract to them, that claim was dismissed by Johnson, who noted, "even assuming plaintiff's allegations to be true, they have not shown they are entitled to relief."
Johnson also ruled that DSW failed to state a claim for tortuous interference with their business relations, so claims in regard to the canceled shows were tossed out as well.
HAMILTON'S CLAIMS OF INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS ALSO TOSSED
Hamilton;s lawsuit claimed that the former wrestler suffered from emotional distress due to the loss of his developmental deal for DSW. The lawsuit claimed WWE's "intentional actions were intended to cause Hamilton severe emotional distress."
WWE tried to throw the emotional distress claims out the window when they responded in July, noting that Hamilton did not file the emotional distress claim within two years, as legally required. Hamilton's April 2009 filing came two days after the cut-off date for the claim. WWE also stated that in addition to the late filing, that claim, "must be dismissed as a matter of law because even accepting all factual allegations are true for purpose of this motion to dismiss, WWE's alleged actions do not rise to the level of extreme and outrageous conduct necessary" for such an allegation to stand.
Judge Johnson agreed with WWE that Hamilton did not file within the time limit and dismissed that claim, but noted that even had Hamilton been within his window to file, Johnson would have still dismissed the claim. Johnson wrote, "WWE's alleged actions do not rise to the requisite level of extreme and outrageous conduct" as required by Georgia law.
So, while WWE knocked a number of Hamilton's claims out, the case will move forward and it looks to hinge upon whether WWE ignored their own contractual agreement of providing Hamilton and DSW with 90 days' notice they were shutting down the Atlanta developmental territory in favor of OVW and Florida Championship Wrestling. While WWE has claimed that contractually, they were within their rights to shut down DSW, it will be up to the court to decide whether the company did it correctly within the parameter of their agreement with Joe Hamilton.
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