The family of the late WWE superstar Matt Osborne, who portrayed the Doink the Clown character, have filed a lawsuit against World Wrestling Entertainment, reports the Dallas Morning News. Michelle James, Osborne's widow, is the plaintiff in the case along with their children, Matthew and Teagan Osborne. The lawsuit alleges negligence and fraud relating to mistreatment that "ultimately resulted in Matthew Osborne's wrongful death." According to the lawsuit, Osborne suffered from traumatic brain injuries that led to "depression and drug abuse, which ultimately resulted in his untimely death." Here is more from the lawsuit:
"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."
Osborne passed away at 55 years of age on June 28, 2013 in Plano, Texas at the apartment he had with James. He was best known for portraying the Doink character in WWE in 1992-93. The cause of death was an accidental overdose of morphine and hydrocodone and he also suffered from heart disease. WWE lawyer Jerry McDevitt responded to the lawsuit claiming that WWE is being targeted by attorneys who tell theres hundreds of thousands of dollars. McDevitt noted that the situation is different from the NFL paying families of former players that were hurt or died due to injuries: "Theyre all different from the NFL. We never had anyone claim they had these kinds of injuries until did it. They find the destitute, people who have no money, and told them theres money to be made. Thats what is going on. And I feel bad for these families, because they think theyll make money off of this, and theyre not. The lawsuit lists more than a dozen other wrestlers that died at a young age including several members of the Von Erich family. The Dallas Morning News posted the entire 72 page lawsuit on their website.