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Thaddeus Bullard aka WWE star Titus O'Neil has filed a motion to have a lawsuit brought against him by a cameraman that had been filming scenes for the WWE Network reality show Swerved thrown out of court because O'Neill claims that the United States District Court of California lacks jurisdiction over him legally.
The lawsuit, brought against Bullard and 1-300 "John Does" who may also be involved was filed this past May, alleging that cameraman Donald Anderson was placed into an unsafe environment and was physically attacked by Bullard while filming content for Swerved, a Jackass-inspired reality series. The incident in question that Anderson was filming saw WWE talent Paige shocking Bullard with electricity. The complaint alleges that Bullard became enraged and went after Anderson, kicking him and injuring his hand, wrist and fingers to the point he could not work. Anderson, who alleged the camera had been kicked out of his hands, also claims in the suit that he was instructed to leave the scene out of fear that O'Neil might go after him again.
In the $1.2 million lawsuit, Anderson is suing for a Battery, Assault, Willful Misconduct, Negligence, Gross Negligence, Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress and Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress. He has also alleged that he has not been able to work due to the injury.
In a 26-page filing on 9/25, Bullard stated that he was not a resident of the State and lacked the contacts there for the court's jurisdiction to fall over him in the case of a legal resident there suing him. While the lawsuit claimed that all of the defendants "do business in California", it failed to explain and address what that business may be in its original filing. The filing argued that Bullard lives in Florida and that "Mr. Bullard has never resided in California He owns no real property in California. He holds no interest in a private business in California. He has never had any offices or employees, rented any real property, or had a statutory agent in California. He has never owned or otherwise held or otherwise had any bank accounts, licenses or business operations in California. He has never had any telephone listing or mailing address in California. Bullard has never at any time purposefully chosen to do business in the State of California, including but not limited to the County of Los Angeles therein. Other than sporadic work he may do under contract with WWE, Bullard has not engaged in any business in California."
The filing also noted that Bullard, not being a resident of California, would then have to deal with travel regularly to the State, which would put an unfair burden on him.
The filing also noted that the expected response from Anderson's side will be that Bullard gave a TED Talk at an event in Los Angeles in May of this year, where he was selected to speak. The filing argued "Aside from the isolated nature of the appearance and lack of compensation, as Bullard had no alternative except attending the lecture in California if he wanted to exercise his rights under the First Amendment and participate and engage in the particular public discussion and discourse that he was requested to engage in, it cannot be said that he purposefully interjected himself into California."
The 9/25 filing also argued that Bullard's work in the State was at WWE's direction as he is under contract to the company and that he had not chosen specifically to work in the States or make himself available to its jurisdiction.
Bullard is attempting to get the lawsuit moved to either Florida (where he resides and WWE has a far larger connection from a business standpoint) or in Virginia (as the alleged incident in question took place there), citing they would be a more suitable venue for the case to be heard. A hearing on the matter will be heard on 10/23 at 2 PM in Los Angeles.
WWE discontinued the Swerved reality series after a second season. The first season, where the alleged incident took place, saw WWE performers pranking each other. The season season saw a slight change in the concept of the show, as performers were now pranking other parties, including fans.
Bullard has been signed to WWE in 2009 to a developmental deal and was called up to the main roster in 2012 after an appearance on the reality-series version of WWE NXT.
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