A lawsuit filed by a professional wrestler late last month could have a huge impact in sports entertainment and more.
Kelly Klein is suing Ring of Honor Wrestling (ROH) and its parent company Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. claiming breach of contract, sexual harassment, unequal pay, abusive discharge among other claims. As a part of the lawsuit Klein is seeking an order from the court claiming that the terms of her contract classifying her as an Independent Contract are Void and that an arbitration agreement in her contract is also made void or voidable.
Klein, a professional wrestler since 2005, made her debut with ROH in 2015. She alleges in her lawsuit that she was the company’s top female wrestler.
The facts claimed in Klein’s Complaint cite that she signed an “Independent Contractor Agreement” for one year lasting from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018. She then signed an Amendment for the calendar year 2019.
The Agreement included an out for Klein to terminate the deal on June 30, 2019. ROH had the opportunity to terminate Klein at any time within 30 days written notice. It also contained an extensive non-compete prohibiting her from competing in another promotion although the lawsuit was silent as to how long that lasted.
She notes that the terms of the contract required her to wear a specific wardrobe, ROH were to approve the ‘movements of their wrestling performance, ROH had control over the outcomes and ROH required Klein to arrive at a particular time to perform services. These instances within the Agreement reflect the fact that she was more than Independent Contractor, but actually an employee.
The Agreement, according to the lawsuit, gave ROH control over the right to use Klein in personal appearances and meet and greet autograph sessions. They also controlled the use of her professional wrestling images and likeness.
Klein argues that she was not paid royalties per her Agreement which were to give her 20% of the net profit of DVD sales and pay to her quarterly. She was also to receive royalties from sales of any action figures created in her likeness which was to be equal to 25% of the net profit.
Klein outlined numerous injuries suffered while in the ring for ROH. She states that ROH did not help her find medical treatment although she told the company person in charge. It should be noted that in some instances, the person in charge was her husband, BJ Whitmer, who was employed by ROH. Some of these injuries included concussions including an incident where due to her head injury she did not perform the scripted ending.
She also claimed that she had a conversation with ROH management about female wrestlers concerns with safety in the wrestling ring.
She retold a scary incident from 2019:
The lawsuit also goes into her going to management about the disparity in women’s pay.
She also retells certain instances where she believes she was harassed by one of the male employees, who is also a pro wrestler.
Payout Perspective:
This lawsuit has the potential of destroying the ROH promotion. Of course, ROH and Sinclair have yet to respond to the lawsuit. One might expect that they will depict Klein as a disgruntled performer not happy with her place within the company. Obviously, they will argue that a part of this lawsuit has to do with her ex-husband being a part of the company. The lawsuit does sound like Klein is blowing the whistle on unsafe practices as well as potential sexual harassment. It also brings up the question of whether pro wrestlers are independent contractors or employees. The lawsuit outlines certain characteristics which depict the wrestlers as employees due to the restrictive nature of the contract which limits their performances, their movements and ability to make other money outside the company.
MMA Payout will continue to follow.
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