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It appears that tomorrow's hearing in the lawsuit brought forth by TNA President Billy Corgan against TNA Impact Wrestling, its parent company Impact Ventures LLC, TNA Chairman Dixie Carter, TNA Chief Financial Officer Dean Broadhead and Carter's husband Serg Salinas on 10/12 in the Chancery Court of Nashville, TN may have been pushed back to next Wednesday 10/26 at 1 PM to provide the defendants additional time to prepare their answer to whatever allegations Corgan has brought forth in the (as of this writing) still sealed lawsuit.
In the order announcing the hearing being pushed back, Chancellor Ellen Hobbes Lyle decreed that TNA and the other defendants would have until 10 AM, Monday 10/24 to file any "opposition to issuance of a temporary injunction" while Corgan would have until 3 PM Tuesday 10/25 to respond.
The current temporary restraining order, which the reasons for also remain sealed currently) will stand until the hearing on 10/26. Chancellor Lyle noted that no "oral testimony" will be heard at the hearing and that the decision on the temporary injunction will be decided solely on affidavits and responses to discovery made in those affidavits.
So, the court will be going strictly by Corgan's claims (PWInsider can exclusively confirm there were seven "exhibits" filed with the court on 10/12 to support the lawsuit's allegations) and the responses that the defendants make to those claims.
A telephone conference between all parties has been set for tomorrow at 11:30 AM with attorneys for each side and Chancellor Lyle regarding the lawsuit being sealed and whether all the filings of the lawsuit should remain sealed.
PWInsider.com can confirm that the lawsuit was initially sealed at the request of Billy Corgan's attorneys due to material in the lawsuit featuring "necessary references to proprietary documents and information." In the State of Tennessee, courts can seal lawsuits as long as they fit the following three pieces of criteria: "the litigation involves private litigants", "the disclosure would reveal private, proprietary information" and that "the disclosure is not necessary to communicating on the public record the outcome and the reason for that outcome."
While the court agrees that the lawsuit fits the first two criteria, today's order noted that court currently feels that the lawsuit, "as it exists now, that disclosure of the finances, and business outlook and plan of the LLC may be necessary to communicating on the public record the outcome and the reason for that outcome." The court specifically warned that it believes ALL of the filings can be released to public records, with the exception of dollar amounts listed in the lawsuit as well as five of the seven exhibits Corgan filed to support his lawsuit claims. So, attorneys for each side will have to convince Chancellor Hobbes of the third part of the criteria in order for everything to remain sealed and they may both have an uphill battle there.
It was noted that the reason Corgan requested the lawsuit be sealed to begin with was to prevent competitors from having access to sensitive information about the financials of TNA and the parties involved in the lawsuit.
More as we confirm it.
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