Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics provided an lengthy update at POST Wrestling on Dr. Carlon Colker’s defamation case attorney Ann Callis who is representing former WWE employee Janel Grant in her lawsuit against Vince McMahon and WWE.
Thurston notes that Judge Sarah F. Russell denied Callis’ motion to have the case dismissed at this early stage.
Russell, who is also presiding over Grant’s lawsuit against WWE and Vince McMahon, was unconvinced by arguments from the Callis side that Colker is a public figure. The defendants’ motion to dismiss the case at this phase largely hinged on their argument that the doctor, and his clinic by association, were public figures. Individuals and entities that courts determine are public figures generally face a higher burden of proof in defamation cases. They need to show the defendant acted with “actual malice,” meaning the defendant knew the statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for its truth or falsity. Private figures, on the other hand, generally only need to show that the defendant made a false and damaging statement.
The doctor and his clinic Peak Wellness are suing Callis and the law office at which she is a partner, Holland Law, over comments Callis made on a press call and in a press release in October 2024, alleging that Colker “violated ethical and medical standards when he injected unknown substances into Janel’s body and directed her to take unlabeled pills while dismissing her basic questions about those drugs,” among other claims about Colker’s treatment of Grant. Colker vehemently denied the allegations.
Thurston’s report concluded by noting, the case is being litigated in the U.S. District Court in the District of Connecticut. He added that Russell is the judge overseeing three active cases that currently have ties to WWE. In addition to this case and Grant’s sex trafficking case against WWE and Vince McMahon, Russell also presides over the relatively new class action case against WWE related to how the company marketed the move of its major events to the ESPN Unlimited streaming platform.