The Portland Tribune is reporting that former WWE wrestler Billy Jack Haynes is suing WWE for “egregious mistreatment of its wrestlers for its own benefit, as well as its concealment and denial of medical research and evidence concerning traumatic brain injuries suffered by WWE wrestlers,” in a 42-page lawsuit which was filed two days ago in Portland’s U.S. District Court.
Haynes is also asking the court to grant class-action status for what his lawyers say could be 500 people who suffered injuries while wrestling or performing in the WWE ring. The attorneys who took over this mammoth task are Steve D. Larson and Joshua L. Ross of the firm Stoll Stoll Bernie Lokting & Schlachter.
“WWE has engaged in a campaign of misinformation and deception to prevent its wrestlers from understanding the true nature and consequences of the injuries they have sustained. WWE’s representations, actions, and inactions have caused its wrestlers to suffer from death, long-term debilitating injuries, lost profits, premature retirement, medical expenses, and other losses as alleged herein,” the lawsuit states.
Haynes, who is now 61, wrestled for WWE between 1986 and 1988, and said that he suffers from depression and exhibits symptoms of dementia from his several blows to the head.
The lawsuit also asks for WWE to establish a trust fund to pay medical monitoring of all wrestlers and frequent medical checks as well as to pay to develop and research methods by which the risk of those affected can be reduced.
