Former commissioner of the XFL football league, Oliver Luck has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon, per Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic. The lawsuit was filed last week and Luck is seeking “unspecified damages from McMahon.” The complaint reads as followed:
“Despite fulfilling his obligations as Commissioner and CEO since May 30, 2018, Mr. Luck was wrongfully terminated by Alpha Entertainment LLC (“Alpha”), an affiliate of Defendant, on April 9, 2020. Thus, Alpha has repudiated Mr. Luck’s employment agreement. Mr. Luck brings this action for breach of contract and declaratory judgment against McMahon.”
It’s noted in the report that the lawsuit reads that Alpha Entertainment filed through bankruptcy court to have the court reject “Certain executive contracts.” Luck was terminated from the XFL on April 9th which was one day before the majority of the league’s staff was laid off. Daniel Kaplan added on Twitter that while the lawsuit specifically names Vince McMahon, McMahon will seek to switch defendant to Alpha Entertainment.
The XFL suspended league operations on April 10th. Half of their staff was laid off and sources told ESPN at the time that there were no plans to return in 2021. The league was officially announced to return in January of 2018 and began its return season in February of 2020. Three days after the league suspended operations, the XFL filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The XFL was five weeks into its season before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the league to shut down for the season.
