Published : Wednesday, 25 May 2011, 5:03 PM EDT

  • SUSAN HAIGH, Associated Press

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A nearly two-year long state audit of the Stamford-based World Wrestling Entertainment finds the company owing $7,316 in underpaid unemployment compensation for certain WWE employees.

In a letter to the Connecticut Department of Labor's field audit unit, dated Monday, an attorney for WWE says the wrestling company does not agree with all of the agency's findings. However, WWE has decided to pay the assessment "under protest" because the company determined it was less expensive than challenging the findings.

The letter was obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.

WWE says it received no fines or penalties.

The audit came to light during last year's contentious U.S. Senate race when former WWE CEO Linda McMahon ran against then-Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. Her campaign called the investigation political.

Blumenthal ultimately won the seat.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.




Business Week has an article up, with some more details on the state of Connecticut auditing WWE. WWE was ordered to pay just over $7,000 in underpaid unemployment compensation and are doing so under protest. The amount was likely larger, but the audit also found that WWE's payroll company overpaid on taxable payroll wages in both 2008 and 2009, so they were credited the money owed.

WWE differed with the state's decision for five employees to be considered "talent" when most appeared only sporadically. WWE also maintained that 23 people the state believes should be considered employees for purposes of unemployment compensation taxes were actually temporary workers. These people also do not work for the company any longer. Some of these employees were used in the blurring of the old WWF logo, which happened some time back. According to the article, WWE was not actually fined.