TNA Files Lawsuit Against WWE

[Rayne]

This type of thing happens all the time in business, either planned or unplanned. Let's look at a seemingly "meaningless" example like baseball. Players change teams all the time. After having spent a lot of time on their previous team, they might know a thing or two. They might know about how pitchers tip their pitches, the approach of different batters, signals, etc. Does anyone think they swear those to secrecy and not tell their new team? I'm not saying it's 100 percent moral or whatever, but it happens all the time. The same would go for wrestling. Guys come and go all the time and there's absolutely nothing stopping them from talking. Heck, guys talk as soon as they get released to media outlets and give out useful information. The stuff Wittenstein "obtained" could just as easily be obtained this way: lets use Matt Morgan since he's a name in question......Morgan says to a WWE guy he's still friends with "yo bro, how's the E? Man, I'm coming up on contract here and I'm not sure that I want to stay, see what's going on over there". If you read wrestling books, guys did that and still do that all the time. Jericho talks about contacting WWE in his book while still under contract with WCW. It can't be the other way around but you can certainly reach out if you'd like. It's just moral code not to tell your current boss that you are looking around.

There's a difference here. It appears hair-thin to normal, sane, rational people, but to those who speak lawyer, it's a HUGE difference.

Matt Morgan (your theoretical example, I'm not using him specifically) can talk to anyone he wants about a contract he signed, provided he isn't signed to a non-disclosure agreement (which would be very, very bizarre for a performer, and likely unenforceable.) He asks his friends to look into information on interest from other companies, because if he did that himself he would certainly piss off his current employer. Everyone knows you search around for your best options, but for some reason, we all like to bullshit each other about it. Don't ask me why, it just is. There are no legal edges to worry about here.

Now, let's say Matt Morgan goes to the WWE. He says, "I happen to know that contracts on (all theoretical examples here) Austin Aries, Chris Sabin, and Crimson are going to be due up about a year from now." This is "hearsay". It could be entirely true, but Matt Morgan never held a job title which would allow him to ascertain, with certainty, the dates of contract. He was never in a position to learn for sure about those contracts, without relying on the word of the aforementioned performers- who were under no obligation to tell him the truth. (Hearsay is impermissible in US courts.)

Then there's Wittenstein. He was in a position within TNA/IW which allowed him to be certain of the dates of contract. Specifically, he was allowed to view proprietary information of TNA/IW, which he only had access to as a result of his employment with TNA/IW. Matt Morgan wouldn't have to work for TNA/IW to hear things from his buddies; the only reason Wittenstein had that information is because of his employment.

How you acquire the information matters just as much as having it. I'm not going to venture a guess as to who's right in this case based on what each side is saying, because what each side says- prior to every civil case in which neither party is a staggering idiot- is either "they are completely and wholly at fault" or "this case is without merit and will be dismissed", obviously depending on plaintiff/defendant. Who's right in this case is completely unimportant, anyways. You're right; it will likely go to a settlement that will be less than expected lawyer's fees.

I guess somebody is looking for some cash.

WWE officials told TNA already, and TNA is still going to sue them, how does that makes sense? WWE admitted that the guy was giving them contractual information and fired him because of it. So why is TNA suing the WWE for? Short answer: money. Long answer: they need money and are desperate for it, getting a settlement deal out of the WWE is the only way TNA can get a huge sum of money because their PPV, live tapings, and house shows don't give them anything.

This won't end well for TNA.

Entirely wrong.

First, your premise. "The WWE told TNA/IW they didn't use the information. Honest." If I'm TNA/IW, I don't take the WWE at their word, and vice versa. From TNA/IW's point of view, why can't the worst case scenario be true; the WWE deliberately hired a guy for proprietary information, got what they needed out of him, fired him, then told TNA/IW about it in an attempt to cover their bases.

Second, the amount of money, even in the event of total victory for TNA/IW, would be meaningless in terms of operating a weekly serial television program. Television ain't cheap, especially live television. Not only would the money likely be (comparatively) small, but it would also be several years out. The WWE won't be cutting a check over this next week, next month, or even next year. Any lawyer worth his salt- and I'm sure the WWE has several- can find any kind of reason to postpone a trial. Remember how many times Jeff Hardy's lawyer seemed to get sick? I was beginning to suspect that the man might have AIDS or terminal cancer.

As far as money grabs go, if TNA/IW needed emergency money, they'd be far better off either floating a loan from Panda Energy, or just straight up robbing people in the street. Filing lawsuits is not the way to go when you need to get paid tomorrow.

 

[itssoeasy123]

PWInsider.com has provided a detailed update on TNA's current lawsuit against WWE including a breakdown of the statement issued by WWE yesterday.

* WWE's statement stated they had fired Brian Wittenstein on 4/27 after they became aware of Wittenstein providing WWE's John Laurinaitis with a CD and print out of confidential TNA information. Wittenstein claimed he obtained the information while working for TNA.

* Laurinaitis then informed WWE's in-house legal department after being given the information. WWE then said Wittenstein was let go specifically due to their concerns that he had "improperly obtained information" from his time as an employeee with TNA. WWE said Laurinaitis didn't copy or keep the information.

* WWE stated that Wittenstein was advised he was being let go and took back his company-issued laptop and Blackberry. Searches by WWE's IT department showed no evidence that copies of the TNA material were still on Wittenstein's computer or Blackberry after WWE took back possession of the material.

* WWE stated that searches of their email server and in-house servers showed no proof that Wittenstein had emailed out the material to anyone else working for WWE. 27 employees working in WWE's talent relationship and creative writing departments were searched.

* In TNA's lawsuit against WWE, the company claimed WWE had waited several weeks before contacting them. WWE has a different story. In the filing yesterday, WWE stated that Wittenstein was let go on 4/27 and "on or around" 5/3, WWE's General Councel called TNA's Director of Talent Relations Bruce Prichard to inform him of the situation. Prichard then referred WWE to TNA's General Counsel, Crede Williams.

* WWE claimed messages were left several times for Williams between 5/4 and 5/7 before he returned the calls. Williams asked WWE to send the material to him. WWE complied via Express Mail on 5/8 and TNA received the material on 5/9. TNA then filed the lawsuit on 5/23.

* WWE noted in the filing that TNA had a "lack of basis for believing WWE has any of their material" after a search revealed that none of the TNA material was on any company servers. WWE also added that it would not be appropriate for TNA to be able to search the company's server due to concerns for WWE intellectual property landing in the hands of TNA employees.

* Searches of John Laurinaitis' email server account revealed zero evidence that he had the material still in possession according to WWE.

* WWE added that due to the size of their six large servers, it would not be physically possible to transport them to Nashville to be examined.

The planned 6/11 hearing has been continued indefinitely to allow both sides to work on scheduling the discovery process of the lawsuit.

WWE's side makes alot more sense. It's obvious they won't allow TNA to search their servers because of TNA doing the same thing they claim WWE is doing, stealing their contractual information.

The bolded makes no sense at all. Why would TNA file a lawsuit after they already got the information back? Why did they wait two weeks to file the lawsuit? One word: money.

They have no case.

 

[Rayne]

WWE's side makes alot more sense. It's obvious they won't allow TNA to search their servers because of TNA doing the same thing they claim WWE is doing, stealing their contractual information.

The bolded makes no sense at all. Why would TNA file a lawsuit after they already got the information back? Why did they wait two weeks to file the lawsuit? One word: money.

They have no case.

Years ago, my desk had a paper taped to the surface. You may have seen it before- it's a circle with "BANG HEAD HERE" printed inside of it. I had to remove it, because it was getting worn thin. (On that note, maybe PCS is why I'm such a cantankerous bastard.)

This is not about money.

Let's say, best case for TNA/IW, the WWE says that they are completely right and agrees to TNA/IW's settlement terms with absolutely no objections, and does this tomorrow. (Obviously entirely unrealistic, but I'm making a point.) What kind of damages could be proven here? Best case, a few million? That's pennies in the bucket when you're running a national company with a live weekly television show.

More realistically, TNA/IW and WWE dick each other around in court for a couple of years, which is a pretty reasonable time frame for these disputes. Our court system is not a swift one. Are we supposed to believe that TNA/IW is planting the seeds for their future by counting money they may or may not have a couple of years in advance?

This is in court because this is how large companies deal with each other. You don't say, "oh yeah, I take you at your word 100%, even though I'm not given any opportunity to inspect for myself." What reason does TNA/IW have to believe a WWE internal investigation? Your point of view makes sense only if you accept what the WWE has said at face value, and assume TNA/IW must be trying to unfairly push a case on them.

Why would they file a lawsuit after they got "the information" back? Because digital information is pretty easy to copy. I don't doubt that there is no evidence of internal TNA/IW information on the WWE servers; someone would have to have lost their fucking mind to open something like that on a WWE-owned computer or one attached to their VPN. (The WWE has a VPN, virtual private network, which allows employees to log on securely from their personal computers.)

What this is about is TNA/IW trying to make the WWE think twice before hiring their previous employees. Those employees are familiar with the business practices of TNA/IW, and the WWE is able to offer more money to them. TNA/IW's other option would be to pay their employees a ridiculously above-market rate, which isn't a healthy business practice. Hence, they give the WWE a good scare with a lawsuit. This one isn't about winning or losing; it's about saying "don't piss in our Cheerios".

 

[itssoeasy123]

From: PWInsider.com

Following their statements made to the court about WWE computer network and how they policed it looking for evidence that the file former office worker Brian Wittenstein had dispersed confidential TNA information to anyone beyond John Laurinaitis, the temporary restraining order against WWE was dissolved officially on 6/8.
The order against Wittenstein remains, demanding he return any confidential information and not tamper or destroy it.

Also filed with the court on 6/8 was a letter from WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt to TNA legal counsel Erika Blonquist, stating that he wanted to document several facts for the record before the case moved forward, writing:

"First, and as I advised you orally on the phone during our recent conference call, WWE has not solicited Ric Flair to leave TNA and enter into a contract with WWE. WWE has made no offer to Flair and has no intention of doing so.

Second, as I also advised you, WWE has not solicited any other current TNA talent to repudiate their contracts and enter into a contract with WWE. WWE has no interest in current TNA talent."

I find it funny how we don't hear much from Brian Wittenstein. I read a new interview that came out recently from a former WWE writer who (when he left WWE) was told to hand in his Blackberry and his laptop. Somehow TNA didn't know he had the contractual information, and if they did they did nothing to keep it confidential or get it back from him. This whole thing makes TNA look like a second rate company. TNA really has nothing at all on WWE, yet their suing them. All they have is they "think" WWE might have used the contract information. Well, until they prove that WWE used the information, they have no case at all and have no chance of winning this case.

 

[Rayne]

OK, just stop. You know nothing about the legal process in this country.

I find it funny how we don't hear much from Brian Wittenstein.

I find it to be the most sane and logical thing in the world. The first thing every lawyer tells his non-corporate clients is "shut your mouth". Every lawyer, be it criminal or civil. (Public relations affects corporations differently than individuals; a company can easily lose more money through bad PR than they can from court losses. Courts can bankrupt a company, public relations does it all the time.)

I read a new interview that came out recently from a former WWE writer who (when he left WWE) was told to hand in his Blackberry and his laptop. Somehow TNA didn't know he had the contractual information, and if they did they did nothing to keep it confidential or get it back from him.

First; what is TNA/IW supposed to do to keep their confidential information confidential from the employees they have that need to see it???? You can mark something "TOP SECRET", but someone is still going to have to look at it. The issue in this case is that someone took confidential information, which they had permission to view as part of their job with TNA/IW, to another company, which they did not have permission to do.

Second, what are they supposed to do to get it back??? So far as I know, they don't have access to cruise missiles. They've made the "pretty please" request. Between "pretty please" and tactical missile strikes, we have the courtroom.

It's common practice for a company to request company-issued hardware back upon termination of employment. You can still copy digital information onto virtually any format available. How exactly would demanding his BlackBerry back change anything?

This whole thing makes TNA look like a second rate company. TNA really has nothing at all on WWE, yet their suing them. All they have is they "think" WWE might have used the contract information. Well, until they prove that WWE used the information, they have no case at all and have no chance of winning this case.

Again. Wrong. The standard in civil court in the United States is "preponderance of the evidence". This means that you don't have to absolutely prove your case; merely that the evidence has to suggest that your version of events is more likely than your adversary's version of events. They don't have to prove that the WWE used TNA/IW's proprietary information; merely that it's more likely that they did than didn't. Get that in front of a jury, and crazy shit happens, that doesn't often make sense in the real world.

You are dead set on seeing this in a "TNA/IW is wrong, WWE is right" point of view. It's far more ambiguous than that.

 

[Helmut Spargel]

Part of me wonders if TNA is fishing for something in discovery. A bigger part of me wonders what the upside is for TNA here. The biggest part of me knows nothing about Tennessee business law, so should probably just shut up.

W/o looking up facts, I am assuming that WWE is a C-Corp, incorporated in Conn w/ principal place of business also arguably Conn or none. I don't know the make-up of TNA ownership, but as long as none of them line in Conn, I'd expect WWE to invoke diversity proceedings to get the case moved to the Conn D.C., making appearances a pita for TNA. No clue where Wittenstein lives and he may be attached to try to defeat diversity jurisdiction, but then WWE would likely try to sever the causes of action.

Then the Conn District Court (which I'm sure isn't backed up at all) gets to Erie up Tenn business law.

I realize that non-compete clauses are shaky at best, but this would provide a cause of action if one ever existed. The lack of such a claim leads me to believe that TNA has not had their employees sign such a contract. I think that's a severe oversight on their part.

ETA: Does anyone have a copy of the complaint? I'm curious as to what they are seeking in damages, what harm they are advancing and/or if there is a statutory penalty applied to unfair business practices in Tenn.

Edit #2: Nevermind. After reading a little more, this was just a TRO motion. Getting a TRO granted is pretty easy, looks like there is another hearing in July to make the injunction permanent. It sounds as if WWE is acting in such a way that any orders attached to the injunction the WWE will have already undertaken voluntarily.