WWE Under Investigation

[nm]

Sept 14, 2010 15:35:47 GMT -5 Sajoa Moe said:

WWE Under Investigation

That's the worst PPV title I've ever heard.

ALL MAIN EVENT MATCHES WILL BE PERFORMED UNDER INVESTIGATION!!!!

[Slammy Award-Winning Cannibal]

Sept 14, 2010 18:31:45 GMT -5 nm said:

Sept 14, 2010 15:35:47 GMT -5 Sajoa Moe said:

That's the worst PPV title I've ever heard.

ALL MAIN EVENT MATCHES WILL BE PERFORMED UNDER INVESTIGATION!!!!

Can't wait for that Microscope on a Pole match.

[Paul]

This could very well lead to heavy roster cuts which would end the brand extension. Hmm..

[Cyno]

Sept 14, 2010 18:09:10 GMT -5 Slammy Award-Winning Cannibal said:

Sept 14, 2010 17:58:18 GMT -5 Drillbit Taylor said:

Lets try to keep the election out and look at the case on its own merrits.

I understand the idea of keeping this within the topic posted but that doesn't change the fact that this investigation is a politically driven move to bruise Linda McMahon in the final 7 weeks of election season. These kinds of moves are done ALL the time in politics so I think it's fair to post that and call this a non-issue.

I guess it's just a tad strange to delete posts that pertain to the genesis of this post's topic. That's all.


EDIT: Since I was being accused of going off-topic, below is the article in full courtesy of www.ctpost.com/news/article/WWE-State-investigating-company-for-657735.php.

STAMFORD -- A spokesman for Stamford-based World Wrestling Entertainment confirmed Tuesday that the company is being audited by state officials for classifying its wrestlers and other, behind-the-scenes production talent as independent contractors.

The company's treatment of its wrestlers has come under increased scrutiny since former CEO Linda McMahon, who, with husband Vince, built WWE, entered the race for the U.S. Senate last September.

"WWE has always complied with the law," WWE spokesman Robert Zimmerman said in an e-mail. "Up until this election, WWE has not been fined nor investigated in the past for independent contractor classification. However, curiously the state of Connecticut is currently conducting an audit of WWE's classification of independent contractors. WWE constantly reviews its internal practices and procedures to comply with ever-changing employee laws."

Zimmerman did not provide other details, such as the agency that is in charge of the audit.

Earlier this year both Democratic President Barack Obama's administration and state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, pledged to crack down on companies that misclassify their employees.

In a statement, Blumenthal said he was not aware of an audit into the WWE and said his office would not be directly involved in conducting such an investigation.

"Complaints about employers misclassifying workers to avoid taxes or health care or other obligations are typically filed with the Department of Labor, which then does investigations," Blumenthal said.

A state Department of Labor spokesman could not immediately confirm the agency was auditing the WWE.

Companies often rely on independent contractors to fill out their full- and part-time talent pools because they do not have to pay certain taxes or provide certain benefits.

I don't know if this audit is politically motivated. It depends if the AG's office or the Department of Labor is behind it (looks like it's the latter). And if the governor appoints the CT Secretary of Labor, then I doubt it's politically motivated since CT's governor is a Republican.

Back on topic, I hope that this results in something. I think the WWE's talent is grievously misclassified and they should get benefits other full-time employees get as required by law.

[Dave at the Movies]

I'll call it right now. This won't go anywhere. I could be wrong but WWE is going to fight this with everything they got because if they have to classify their talent as employees they will take one of the biggest money loss hits ever.

You also have to wonder if this will affect TNA if this gets to a top federal court. It will either hurt them too or they may be able to keep calling their talent independent contractors since they let their wrestlers wrestle on non televised indy shows and a lot of their guys are only paid per appearance and not actually signed to contracts.

[Red Impact]

Sept 14, 2010 19:04:07 GMT -5 Dave at the Movies said:

I'll call it right now. This won't go anywhere. I could be wrong but WWE is going to fight this with everything they got because if they have to classify their talent as employees they will take one of the biggest money loss hits ever.

You also have to wonder if this will affect TNA if this gets to a top federal court. It will either hurt them too or they may be able to keep calling their talent independent contractors since they let their wrestlers wrestle on non televised indy shows and a lot of their guys are only paid per appearance and not actually signed to contracts.

The biggest reason why WWE is singled out is because WWE more or less has complete control over everyone they have under contract. There's no working for other companies, the employee has no choice about how they go about their job, it's entirely WWE monitored.

It's like being an athlete. Sam Bradford is an employee of the Rams, not an independent contractor. He's not like Roger Federer, who can choose what tournaments to participate in and what ones not to. He's bound to perform for the Rams and only the Rams. Well, being a WWE wrestler is akin to being on an NFL team.

[Junkenstein]

Sept 14, 2010 18:31:45 GMT -5 nm said:

Sept 14, 2010 15:35:47 GMT -5 Sajoa Moe said:

That's the worst PPV title I've ever heard.

ALL MAIN EVENT MATCHES WILL BE PERFORMED UNDER INVESTIGATION!!!!

Investigation isn't just encouraged... it's allowed!

[Dave at the Movies]

Sept 14, 2010 19:29:20 GMT -5 Red Impact said:

Sept 14, 2010 19:04:07 GMT -5 Dave at the Movies said:

I'll call it right now. This won't go anywhere. I could be wrong but WWE is going to fight this with everything they got because if they have to classify their talent as employees they will take one of the biggest money loss hits ever.

You also have to wonder if this will affect TNA if this gets to a top federal court. It will either hurt them too or they may be able to keep calling their talent independent contractors since they let their wrestlers wrestle on non televised indy shows and a lot of their guys are only paid per appearance and not actually signed to contracts.

The biggest reason why WWE is singled out is because WWE more or less has complete control over everyone they have under contract. There's no working for other companies, the employee has no choice about how they go about their job, it's entirely WWE monitored.

It's like being an athlete. Sam Bradford is an employee of the Rams, not an independent contractor. He's not like Roger Federer, who can choose what tournaments to participate in and what ones not to. He's bound to perform for the Rams and only the Rams. Well, being a WWE wrestler is akin to being on an NFL team.

I completely agree. I'm surprised WWE hadn't been investigated for this years ago.

This might also become a white collar criminal case if WWE is found guilty of evading taxes.

[Jay Peas 42]

If the IRS is okay with the arrangement (meaning the WWE isn't required to collect Payroll, Income, FICA and Medicare tax), then CT probably doesn't have much to stand on. Any determination would be subject to administrative and judicial review.

Two, seriously? Do you really think that if the WWF is required to pay $20,000 a year in benefits and taxes, do you really think that everyone's pay isn't going down by $20,000 a year? If you do, you fail economics forever.

[Deleted]

Agreed. If anything, if CT has it their way, say goodbye to the WWE's already troubled financial state.

[Dr. T is an alien]

Yeah, I always thought that it was a dick move by the WWE to consistently insist on categorizing their talent as independent contractors. It won't cost the company any more money, it just means that talent can force them to let them take some time off (which top guys can get on demand but midcarders sometimes cannot even when they are hurt and only want to work TV tapings). It might also mean that they WWE might not be as capable of dumping talent as willy-nilly as they prefer.

[Alex Shelley]

My only concern is that this could end in WWE going under.

But, yes, these people are employees and need to be classified as such. It's completely ridiculous that they're not considered employees.

[molson5]

Sept 14, 2010 20:42:52 GMT -5 Alex Shelley said:

My only concern is that this could end in WWE going under.

But, yes, these people are employees and need to be classified as such. It's completely ridiculous that they're not considered employees.

Worst-case scenario, they'd just re-structure the relationship with the talent to make them true "independent contractors". I'm not sure a wrestling company can work without that designation.

[kingoftheiwc]

Sept 14, 2010 20:52:47 GMT -5 molson5 said:

Sept 14, 2010 20:42:52 GMT -5 Alex Shelley said:

My only concern is that this could end in WWE going under.

But, yes, these people are employees and need to be classified as such. It's completely ridiculous that they're not considered employees.

Worst-case scenario, they'd just re-structure the relationship with the talent to make them true "independent contractors". I'm not sure a wrestling company can work without that designation.

Im not either but the E does have a good amount of cash and this wouldnt bankrupt them I think, but im not sure.

[nisidhe]

Sept 14, 2010 20:55:51 GMT -5 kingoftheiwc said:

Sept 14, 2010 20:52:47 GMT -5 molson5 said:

Worst-case scenario, they'd just re-structure the relationship with the talent to make them true "independent contractors". I'm not sure a wrestling company can work without that designation.

Im not either but the E does have a good amount of cash and this wouldnt bankrupt them I think, but im not sure.

Perhaps not, but it _may_ make them rethink their merchandise licensing arrangements if they can't get exclusivity from the talent. What one hand will give to the talent, the other hand will take away. WWE will be able to afford to put its talent on the payroll as full-blown employees, but they'll cut the pay scale or the licensing percentages to cover their losses as a result. Look also for more tightly-controlled entry points for newer wrestlers to discourage seeking work in the indies.

TNA will have to come up with similar terms for its bigger stars to keep making its money.

[drjayphd (feat. Pitbull)]

Sept 14, 2010 15:30:35 GMT -5 Crappler El 0 M said:

As I understand it, Raven, Kanyon, and Sanders's case was thrown out because a judge ruled that the three of them had no standing to bring it either because they were not current performers in WWE or because too much time had elapsed since they worked there. The actual merits of their case were not judged on at all. It would take a current WWE performer to bring such a suit for the actual merits to be judged.

Now paging Tyler Reks, Tyler Reks, please pick up the white courtesy phone...

[drjayphd (feat. Pitbull)]

Sept 14, 2010 18:53:33 GMT -5 Cyno said:

I don't know if this audit is politically motivated. It depends if the AG's office or the Department of Labor is behind it (looks like it's the latter). And if the governor appoints the CT Secretary of Labor, then I doubt it's politically motivated since CT's governor is a Republican.

Back on topic, I hope that this results in something. I think the WWE's talent is grievously misclassified and they should get benefits other full-time employees get as required by law.

Not sure how far I can discuss this without running afoul of the politics rules, but if it's coming from the AG's office, that'd be VERY interesting... If so, it'd be much more politically motivated than if it came from, say, the governor's office. M. Jodi's too inert for that.

[Red Impact]

Sept 14, 2010 20:37:42 GMT -5 Dr. T is an alien said:

Yeah, I always thought that it was a dick move by the WWE to consistently insist on categorizing their talent as independent contractors. It won't cost the company any more money, it just means that talent can force them to let them take some time off (which top guys can get on demand but midcarders sometimes cannot even when they are hurt and only want to work TV tapings). It might also mean that they WWE might not be as capable of dumping talent as willy-nilly as they prefer.

They do it because it saves them money, not because they just want to be spiteful. Independent contractors don't have some benefits, and the tax procedures are different as well IIRC. Even though many of the costs will be passed along, there will still be costs.

Also, they'd still be able to dump people whenever. Connecticut is an at-will employment state, so they can fire people for whatever reason, as long as that reason isn't against the law itself.

[Dr. T is an alien]

Sept 14, 2010 21:51:37 GMT -5 Red Impact said:

Sept 14, 2010 20:37:42 GMT -5 Dr. T is an alien said:

Yeah, I always thought that it was a dick move by the WWE to consistently insist on categorizing their talent as independent contractors. It won't cost the company any more money, it just means that talent can force them to let them take some time off (which top guys can get on demand but midcarders sometimes cannot even when they are hurt and only want to work TV tapings). It might also mean that they WWE might not be as capable of dumping talent as willy-nilly as they prefer.

They do it because it saves them money, not because they just want to be spiteful. Independent contractors don't have some benefits, and the tax procedures are different as well IIRC. Even though many of the costs will be passed along, there will still be costs.

Also, they'd still be able to dump people whenever. Connecticut is an at-will employment state, so they can fire people for whatever reason, as long as that reason isn't against the law itself.

At will only works for noncontracted employment. WWE talent are contracted workers. In order for the WWE to get to utilize at-will employment, they would have to deal with all the aspects of it, namely employees can quit any time that they wish. WWE will NEVER go for that.

[flatsdomino]

WWE Under Investigation is going to be the best PPV ever, so long as Lawler, Snuka, Jeff Hardy and Vince are involved somehow