Appeal Launched In AEW Lawsuit As Former Talent Want Decision Reversed

AEW could be forced back to court after an appeal was launched in an ongoing lawsuit against the company.

Kevin Kelly was fired by AEW after going public with his frustrations with the company and comments made by fellow AEW announcer Ian Riccaboni online. The former WWE and NJPW commentator has previously vowed that the company “will get theirs” and soon launched a lawsuit against Tony Khan’s company alongside Brandon and Bret Tate.

The Tate twins are best known as The Boys, having accompanied Dalton Castle to the ring for his bouts for years in Ring of Honor. They were let go from their contracts in April 2024, and Tony Khan had publicly claimed that the Tates had failed to show up for work on several occasions, which is why they joined Kelly in launching a lawsuit.

Back in June, it was reported that there had been a “significant win” for AEW in relation to the case. In the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Judge Harvey E. Schlesinger granted AEW’s motion to compel arbitration in the lawsuit. However, the judge dismissed the company’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit altogether.

The report noted that the lawsuit will now be classed as “administratively closed”, meaning that the case will be inactive in the courts while arbitration takes place. But now an appeal has been launched.

Kevin Kelly & Tates Appeal AEW Lawsuit Decision

Brandon Thurston has reported that Kelly and the Tates have now filed an appeal to that decision:

The Kevin Kelly & Tate Twins appeals case against AEW in the 11th Circuit was filed today. They’re trying to reverse the district judge’s decision to send their defamation case to arbitration. Attorney Stephen P. New argues the district judge erred in not allowing discovery before ruling and by ruling that they didn’t attack the delegation clause. The brief insists the arbitration clauses in their talent contracts were both substantively and procedurally unconscionable, a standard of unfairness which would make them unenforceable.

To try to put it in plain English: AEW put arbitration clauses in their contracts, keeping disputes out of public court. (This is probably common throughout major wrestling companies’ talent contracts.) Kelly & Tates say the judge sent this case to arbitration too quickly.

They claim the arbitration clauses were so unfair that they do meet the very specific legal standard required to prevent a judge from enforcing arbitration. They claim they couldn’t negotiate the clauses, they weren’t told about the costs of arbitration, they have to arbitrate in Florida even though they don’t live there, they weren’t told the rules of arbitration, they were pressured to sign, and had no real choice. Thus, they meet the high “unconscionability” standard, they say.

They say there should’ve been a hearing and they should’ve been allowed to request evidence to support their case. But the federal judge decided that their arbitration clause also included a delegation clause, which means these issues themselves should be decided in arbitration, not by him (the judge). The judge said Kelly & the Tates didn’t actually attack the delegation clause, which is what they needed to do (and do successfully) to avoid arbitration. But Kelly & the Tates say they did that because they said all their allegations against arbitration also apply to delegation.