Ryan Nemeth was served with legal papers this past weekend before he was set to go on stage for a theatre show in New York.
Nemeth, 40, filed suit against AEW, Tony Khan & Phil Brooks in the Superior Court of Los Angeles last month alleging that Brooks physically assaulted him in 2023 and that the company engaged in retaliation against him while being blacklisted. He also lists 20 John Does as defendants in the suit.
On March 14, AEW and Tony Khan filed a petition arguing that the claims by Nemeth should be adjudicated in private arbitration in Duval County, Florida, citing the language in the multiple contracts Nemeth signed between 2021 – 2023.
However, it appears that Nemeth was not served with the papers until this past weekend.
In a Substack post, the former AEW performer states that he was about to go on stage in New York for a theatre show he was performing in and was served with the papers at the Hellenic Cultural Center in Astoria.
Nemeth contends that that gave AEW notice in advance of their filing and sent the complaint, so they cannot claim to have been blindsided. He also notes that they had his lawyer’s information and could have sent the petition to him, instead.
The billionaire in question definitely has my attorney’s information, as does his legal team and any independent counsel he’s gotten involved in this. These are aggressive tactics that I believe are designed to intimidate me and to stop me from speaking up about how I was treated.
It is hard to imagine that Nemeth was not aware of this move by AEW and Khan, given the reporting of the petition two weeks ago, including at POST Wrestling.
Nemeth adds in the Substack post:
I was on the receiving end of some pretty insane abuse from my former employer. I did all the things you’re supposed to do: I communicated. I spoke to HR. I spoke to Legal. I spoke to my bosses. I kept records. I have witnesses. I was even offered a settlement. Then, instead of those terms being honored, in a very bizarre pseudo U-turn of events, I was offered a new contract with AEW in lieu of pursuing legal action. (For those of you wondering, I said “No, thanks.”). Oddly enough, I was also told the lawyer who offered me the original settlement had no authority to do so (that sounds like serious organizational dysfunction, but who am I to say?)
The petition filed by AEW and Khan will be ruled on by Judge Wendy W. Berger and Magistrate Judge Laura Lotham Lambert.
