Matt “Doink” Osborne’s Family Sues WWE Over Traumatic Brain Injuries

– The family of Matt Osborne, best known for his role as Doink the Clown in WWE, has filed a lawsuit against WWE in federal court today. The suit was filed in Dallas, Texas and claims that traumatic brain injuries suffered during his time with the company resulted in “depression and drug abuse, which ultimately resulted in his untimely death.”

The lawsuit reads, “When forced to acknowledge the risks to which it subjects its wrestlers — by script, on a daily basis — WWE took inadequate steps to correct the problem or to address its injurious conduct, the full consequences of which are still coming to light. Indeed, WWE continues a course of conduct designed to mislead its wrestlers, and designed to mislead Matthew Osborne until his death, about the injuries they sustained while wrestling for WWE by failing to disclose pertinent facts or offering misleading truths.”

The suit is similar to claims filed by Billy Jack Haynes and the suit filed by Vito Lograsso and Evan Singleton, all of which related to concussions during their time with the company. Osborne died on June 28th, 2013 due to an accidental overdose on morphine and hydrocodone, as well as heart disease.

WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt responded to the suit, telling the Dallas Morning News that this is the latest in a line of lawsuits “drumming up people…looking for NFL money.” He continued, “And they don’t have any merit. They’re all different from the NFL. We never had anyone claim they had these kinds of injuries until [these attorneys] did it. They find the destitute, people who have no money, and told them there’s money to be made. That’s what is going on. … And I feel bad for these families, because they think they’ll make money off of this, and they’re not.”