Posted in: Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: andrew yang, Lucas Middlebrook, wrestling, wwe

Andrew Yang Urges WWE Independent Contractors to Contact Attorney

Published Thu, 16 Sep 2021 12:08:13 -0500

Greetings, comrades! It is, your El Presidente, here to bring you exciting news on my third favorite topic after coup attempts and professional wrestling gossip: labor rights! Andrew Yang has made good on his promise to speak to the United States government on behalf of WWE's independent contractors, who Comrade Yang and many others believe should actually be classified as employees, due to their exclusive contractual status, lack of control over their work, and essential nature in relation to WWE's business. Yang previously promised to speak to the Labor Secretary if Joe Biden won the election in 2020, which, despite what certain WWE Hall-of-Famers and former presidents may tell you, happened. Now, Yang says he's spoken with the department of labor, and has urged WWE wrestlers to contact labor attorney Lucas Middlebrook if they agree with him about their status.

Had a call with the Department of Labor. If you are a current or former @WWE performer who feels you were misclassified as an independent contractor contact @lkmiddleb and let's get you what Vince owes you. Been a long time coming but this storyline is real.

— Andrew Yang🧢🗽🇺🇸 (@AndrewYang) September 16, 2021

Lucas Middlebrook is best known as a lawyer fighting on the side of labor for airlines and sports professionals, including UFC fighters. Comrade Middlebrook has previously commented on WWE's independent contractor status in the wake of their rules restricting wrestlers from operating their own third-party deals via services like Twitch and Cameo. At the time, Middlebrook said:

I have been following it as the news comes out, and I followed along about the third party platforms and the streaming. And I saw a your article related to some sort of discipline process where wrestlers may get suspended or fined, but it looked like a progressive discipline process in relation to also third party platforms. What I can say is that the more control that, let's just call them an employer, the more control that an employer or an entity exercises over its independent contractors, the less likely it is that they are actually independent contractors.

Middlebrook retweeted Yang's tweet, so he is apparently on board with joining the fight. Could a class action lawsuit against WWE be in the cards? We'll keep you updated, comrades. Until next time: socialism or death!