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Hayward Jury Slams All Pro Wresting School: Awards in Excess of $1.3 Million to Parents of Young Man Who Died Because of Reckless Training

The San Francisco Law Firm of Hersh & Hersh www.hershlaw.com, announced that an Alameda County Superior Court jury quickly reached a unanimous verdict earlier this week in the case against the owner of All Pro Wrestling ("APW") of Hayward, California, finding the wrestling school liable for reckless behavior. The high profile case, which received considerable media attention when filed by Hersh & Hersh in September 2002, went to trial on June 10, 2005, lasting approximately three weeks. On Tuesday, July 12, after less than a day of deliberations, the jury reached a verdict, unanimously finding All Pro Wrestling liable for recklessness.

The case was filed by Norman and May Ong of Concord, California on behalf of their son Brian Ong who died as a result of injuries suffered during an Open Gym night at All Pro Wrestling in Hayward. Brian Ong, then 27 years old, began All Pro Wrestling Hayward's Beginners Camp in March 2001, and was fatally injured on May 28, 2001 as a result of being thrown to the mat twice after being asked to volunteer to "receive" a professional wrestling move (called the "flapjack") from a 7-foot, 400-pound wrestler who was being specially trained by APW to be a professional wrestler.

The evidence showed that Brian Ong "had his bell rung," meaning having some sort of head injury and being woozy and disoriented after being thrown to the mat the first time he tried the move and was killed after being thrown the second time. The evidence also showed that APW was primarily interested in training the 7-foot wrestler who it hoped would become a big professional wrestling star.

"We are pleased with the jury's verdict and hope that this wrestling school and all wrestling schools will learn that they must treat all their students properly, train them appropriately and not allow any desire to train someone they hope to be a star to overcome their duties to every student," commented seasoned Hersh & Hersh litigator Berne Reuben, who represented the Ong family. "This has been a very painful four years for Brian's family, who will never recover from the loss of their son. They feel that by exposing what happened at All Pro Wrestling they may help to save the lives of other young people."

About Hersh & Hersh

Hersh & Hersh is a San Francisco-based law firm dedicated to protecting the safety and rights of consumers. The law firm represents clients both on an individual level and in class and multi-district litigation, and has pursued and won a wide range of civil suits, from product liability, medical malpractice and insurance bad faith to sexual harassment and employee discrimination.

For the past 32 years, Hersh & Hersh has been committed to using the law to protect individuals by making sure companies exercise due diligence in manufacturing their products and operate in good faith in delivering their services.

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