Former Impact star filed an action in the name of Impact on the 8th of February in the Circuit Court of Davidson County, Tennessee.
Michael Elgin, real name Aaron Frobel, is seeking not less than $5 million in compensatory damages. The suit alleges Impact Wrestling of a material breach of contract. The video was posted on the 2nd of March on YouTube, giving his perspective on the story.
The suit stems from Michael’s departure out of Impact Wrestling in June of 2020. After disclosing sexual assault allegations concerning Elgin within his participation in the Speaking Out movement. Initially, he was suspended from the organization by Impact. Elgin was ultimately not employed by Impact Wrestling again, and the promotion later said that the removal of him from all programs.
Michael Elgin’s claims date back to the conversation he had with Impact executive vice president Scott D’Amore in June of 2020. Impact announced the suspension of wrestling stars Dave Crist and Joey Ryan, who were also accused of the incident during speaking out. The suspension of Elgin amid an investigation of the accusations against him.
In the lawsuit, Elgin asserts that the D’Amore informed him that he would be notified later there was no investigation of the allegations.
Michael Elgin further claims D’Amore repeated this position in an email from December 2020 that was incorporated in the case as an exhibit in which it states that:
The company’s decision not to utilize you in further programming was not based on any investigation beyond the public disclosures (and your responses thereto) at the time.
Elgin claims that Impact canceled a planned appearance in December 2020 in conjunction with Japanese promotions Pro Wrestling NOAH and says Impact damaged his image in Japan because of it.
Michael Elgin had recently been featured in the media when he announced that he’d be a free agent from April. A reversal of the long-held belief that the actor was fired from Impact in the early days of the Speaking Out movement. The news broke in July 2021 when being arrested for breaching a protection request filed with his former fiancee.
This isn’t the first time that claims have been made about Impact Wrestling regarding internal investigations. The former Impact referee Kris Levin questioned the validity of an Impact investigation shortly following the start of The Speaking Out movement in 2020.