Vince McMahon Fired Oliver Luck for “Gross Neglect,” But Also for Using Work Phone for Personal Use?

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Vince McMahon has made a career out of dramatically firing people in the fictional world of professional wrestling, but he also has a sordid history of firing people in real life. Most of the time, it involves his snake-like exploitation of independent contractor rules. However, the latest controversy surrounds his again-failed football league, the XFL.

Oliver Luck, best known for his brief NFL career and for being Andrew Luck’s dad, was fired as XFL commissioner in April after serving in the role since May of 2018. Luck proceeded to sue McMahon for wrongful termination. But McMahon’s lawyers claimed that Luck was fired for cause, though some of the case filings seem more dubious than others.

The big accusation from McMahon is the “gross neglect” in the wake of the early days of coronavirus panic. Allegedly, on March 13, right when COVID-19 was leading to sports postponement, Luck went home to Indiana and “disengaged from the XFL’s operations.” On the one hand, leaving Stamford, Conn. to bunker down in Indiana is understandable given Stamford’s proximity to New York, one of the COVID epicenters. On the other hand, March 13 was the height of sports panic and leagues were frantically discussing plans and potential shutdowns. If McMahon’s claims are true, then it is more than reasonable to expect the commissioner to be heavily involved in those decisions. Luck leaving Stamford is in itself not necessarily damning — long-time McMahon  associate Bruce Prichard often works from his home in Houston. But the signing off from XFL responsibilities is certainly a fireable offense.

For the record, Luck says he has texts that prove he was still engaged in XFL discussions up until his termination. So maybe McMahon does not believe in working from home when the relationship is new. Luck only began working for Vince in 2018, while Prichard has been in and out with WWE since 1987.

McMahon’s other causes for Luck’s firing are considerably less sound. Included in the filing is Luck’s use of a company iPhone for personal matters. Frankly, assuming a normal level of “personal” here, if Luck’s actions here are worth termination, then the job market should be flush with open positions. I’m not totally sure why this was included in the file when the previous accusation has far more merit to it.

The third claim was Luck’s signing of Antonio Callaway, the talented but troubled receiver who played a couple years with the Browns. Callaway past includes a suspension in college due to sexual assault allegations and an arrest in his rookie season involving illegal possession of marijuana. The XFL had a policy that all players with tenuous backgrounds would need final approval from McMahon, and Luck signed Callaway without telling the boss. Callaway also got hurt in XFL action, which prompted further costs with medical and worker’s comp.

(To be honest, McMahon having a health program for his players is a dramatic step up from what he offers his wrestlers.)

Truth be told, as much as I respect Luck (well, at least his son), these revelations do not look great for his wrongful termination suit. At the crux of it, McMahon claims Luck cost the company a lot of money by signing a player McMahon didn’t want, failing to do his job in a time of crisis and, as an aside, using his phone wrong. Well, two out of three ain’t bad.