Konnan Suing TNA

Fozzy

A couple of notes from ProWrestling.net:

Konnan filed a lawsuit against TNA Wrestling in which he accuses the company of racial discrimination. The lawsuit includes allegations of drug use among “higher ups” in the company, according to a story posted on WrestleZone.com. TNA has 30 days to respond to the lawsuit.

Powell’s POV: This lawsuit has been in the works for months. I know that Konnan was actually hoping the legal papers would be served to TNA officials on Christmas Eve, but his lawyer determined the case wasn’t ready yet. Konnan claims to have witnessed drug use by TNA office members and has stated that he has a long list of witnesses who can verify his racial discrimination allegations.

I have not read the actual lawsuit, but I know at one time that Jeff Jarrett was a primary target of many of the allegations. Konnan had a much better relationship with Vince Russo than he did with Dutch Mantel over the years and was at one time an advocate for Russo’s creative work, but both men are named in the lawsuit.

Konnan is represented by Cary Ichter, the same attorney that represented several wrestlers in a discrimination case against Turner Broadcasting and WCW. Ichter also represents Michael Benoit, who is said to be considering the possibility of filing a lawsuit against WWE over his son Chris Benoit's suicide.

TNA vice president Jeff Jarrett, head of TNA talent relations Terry Taylor, and creative team members Vince Russo and Dutch Mantel are among the office workers named in the racial discrimination lawsuit against TNA that was filed recently by Konnan (a/k/a Charles Ashenoff).

A source who has read the lawsuit claims that Konnan is seeking $7 million. Among the allegations included are drug use by at least one office worker, as well as racial discrimination—including the use of racial slurs by at least two members of the office staff. The lawsuit also includes a claim that Konnan received prescription drugs from at least two office workers.

The TNA media relations department did not respond to a request for comment before this story was published.

Powell’s POV: These are some heavyweight allegations and it’s important to remember they are just that at this point. As I understand it, Taylor and Russo are mentioned at least in part because they were the targets of a discrimination lawsuit that was filed against Turner Broadcasting and WCW. That case was handled by Cary Ichter, the attorney representing Konnan.

Regardless of the validity of the claims, this could become a public relations disaster for TNA, as Konnan is telling friends that he has contacted three different Latino activist groups regarding this dispute.

I don't know how this will end up. I've seen it mentioned that issues like TNA officials taking drugs have nothing to do with a racial discrimination lawsuit and that Steiner having his surgery paid for is a matter of favouritism rather than racialism. Maybe the lawsuit details it more accurately. Could be a big story though. The WCW case mentioned was settled out of court and Russo was involved in that too, having made comments which could be seen as racist

fatal

While i agree that drug use has nothing to do with discrimination,a case against why steiner had his operation paid for by TNA wherelse Konnan didn't could sucessfully be used to prove discrimination.As far as i can recall,Konnan relied almost entirely on donations for his hip operation.
After the benoit tragedy,Konnan appeared on several news channels saying something along the lines of him being skint(which could be true based on him relying on donations for an operation).Therefore I think that this case is just a way for him to make money which he will only have a chance of getting if he uses the claims which he has filed in his lawsuit.

EdK

Steiner was injured while working for TNA aswell, Konnan's hip injury was from years of wear and tear, It's gonna be hard for Konnan to prove that the discrimination wasn't his gimmick haha, plus the stuff he said about TNA office staff made him seem like a little rat

Machismo Fan

7 Million is a bit much for Vince Russo and Jeff Jarrett calling him names. He wasn't discriminated against as a wrestler as he won the NWA Tag Team titles twice and so did the team he was managing. So its not like they were burying him because hes Cuban. They paid for Steiners surgery because he got injured on their books. Konnan wanted paying for injuries that were building all through his career because he was too large to be a luchadore(260lb). I think Konnan is just bitter and wants to get the most he can out of American Wrestling. He is trying to get one over on TNA rather than having legitimate reason to sue.

Vince135792003

Machismo Fan wrote: »

7 Million is a bit much for Vince Russo and Jeff Jarrett calling him names.

It's like everything, aim high and you might get something out of it rather than shooting for a lower number.