Former XFL Commissioner Suing Vince McMahon Over Wrongful Termination Claims

As noted before, the XFL announced earlier this month that they were completely shutting down and filing for bankruptcy due to the league’s uncertain financial well-being and future caused by the on-going coronavirus pandemic. Dave Meltzer reported in last week’s Observer Newsletter that XFL officials were mostly left in the dark about Vince McMahon’s decision to shut down the league until the day of the announcement.

The league’s former commissioner, Oliver Luck, filed a federal lawsuit last week against Vince McMahon in regards to claims of wrongful termination, The Athletic’s Daniel Kaplan reported (paid article).

Luck’s contract with the XFL was terminated on April 9th, which was one day before the majority of the league’s staff was laid off. TMZ says that Luck received a termination letter spelling out the reasons for his firing, but Luck claims that the reasons are false and he denies any wrongdoing.

Luck’s lawsuit also stated that McMahon breached the terms of his contract with his wrongful firing and is currently requesting an unspecific amount of monetary damages from McMahon.

Kaplan reported that Alpha Entertainment had requested in their bankruptcy filing that “certain executive contracts” be rejected by the bankruptcy court.

Kaplan also reported that while McMahon was named in the lawsuit, it is currently expected that he will try to have the defendant listed be switched to Alpha Entertainment instead.

Portion of Luck’s wrongful termination lawsuit:

“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.”

Additional sources: PostWrestling.com, Daniel Kaplan