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Attorneys for Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment each filed motions before the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, requesting the Court order that the lawsuit filed by former WWE employee Janel Grant be sent to arbitration.
Grant's lawsuit against McMahon, WWE and former WWE executive John Laurinaitus alleges “that McMahon lured her with promises of career advancement, and then he allegedly exploited her and trafficked her to other men inside the company.” Grant signed a nondisclosure agreement in 2022 with McMahon, agreeing to a payment of $3 million to not publicly disparage him or to discuss their relationship. She alleges in the suit that he stopped making payments after $1 million, one third of the agreement, was received. Her lawsuit is seeking to void the NDA and additional financial damages.
McMahon's motion claims that the agreement he and WWE entered into with Grant included a clause that “any dispute arising under or out of” that agreement to be arbitrated, therefore Grant even filing her lawsuit was "in direct violation of her agreement to arbitrate."
The motion claims, "The Settlement Agreement was drafted when Plaintiff and Defendant McMahon, who had engaged in a consensual, intimate relationship for approximately three years, sought to memorialize the end of that relationship. In January 2022, Plaintiff and Defendant McMahon, each represented by counsel, negotiated and executed the Settlement Agreement, with Defendant McMahon signing on his own behalf and, in his capacity as Chairman, on behalf of WWE. That agreement, which explicitly sought “to avoid any damage caused by public disclosure of private matters known to Grant and McMahon,” included, among other provisions, terms for Plaintiff’s departure from the company where they both worked (WWE), the payment of $3 million to Plaintiff, mutual releases, and a comprehensive agreement to arbitrate any and all disputes."
McMahon's Motion states he made the initial payment of $1 Million to Grant, but "When Defendant McMahon later learned that Plaintiff, despite her representations and warranties, had breached the Settlement Agreement by wrongfully disclosing both the existence of the Settlement Agreement and their relationship, he exercised his contractual right to withhold further payment otherwise owed under the Settlement Agreement. In response, Plaintiff sought to besmirch him. She intentionally violated the Settlement Agreement’s arbitration provision and filed a false and defamatory public lawsuit."
The Motion also states, " As this is a pre-answer motion, Defendant McMahon does not specifically address the legal sufficiency or substantive merits of Plaintiff’s counts asserted against him. For the avoidance of doubt, however, Defendant McMahon vehemently and categorically denies all allegations of Case 3:24-cv-00090-JAM Document 85-1 Filed 12/23/24 Page 8 of 33 3 wrongdoing in the Complaint, including Plaintiff’s outrageous false claims intended for publicity. When the Complaint’s allegations are adjudicated in the proper forum (arbitration), witnesses are called to testify under oath, and all communications between the parties are produced (including those authored by Plaintiff, many of which were intentionally omitted from the Complaint), the allegations and claims will be disproven.2 Meanwhile, for the foregoing reasons and as set forth further below, Defendant McMahon’s Motion to Compel Arbitration should be granted."
McMahon's 52-page filing states that McMahon and Grant were in a consensual relationship for "just under three years" and initially offered Grant $1 million. The motion claims Grant felt that amount was not enough given the loss of her earning potential and the fact that she would be exiting her position as a Director in WWE in under a year and hired her own counsel. A declaration from McMahon that is included in the Motion states that McMahon's attorney (Jerry McDevitt) was not involved in the situation until Grant asked for a larger sum. The final agreed upon amount would be for $3 million, to be paid installments through February 2026. McMahon is arguing that in signing that agreement, Grant agreed she would not bring any additional claims against McMahon (nor he against her) and that would also release Grant from being able to bring any future complaints against WWE.
McMahon's motion also states - "The Settlement Agreement also contains a clear severability provision: “In the event that any provision of this Agreement is held to be void or unenforceable by any arbitration panel or court reviewing an arbitration decision, the remaining provisions shall nevertheless be binding provided, however, if any of the confidentiality obligations of this Agreement are ever contended to be unenforceable by Grant, or are found to be unenforceable by any tribunal, Grant agrees that she shall return all monies paid pursuant to this Agreement to McMahon.”"
The Motion also claims "Defendant McMahon will establish in arbitration that each argument Plaintiff raises to invalidate the Settlement Agreement fails under applicable law." The Motion also argues that Grant's claims that she signed the agreement under duress would not stand in Connecticut Court as "courts in Connecticut have repeatedly held that “if the party who executed the contract under duress accepts the benefits flowing from it or remains silent or acquiesces in the contract for any considerable length of time after opportunity is afforded to annul or avoid it,” that party, because of his or her ratification of the contract, cannot assert duress or undue influence as a matter of law."
The Motion included a signed declaration from Vince McMahon stating that his version of events are true under penalty of perjury.
The WWE Motion mostly covers the same ground, but points out the McMahon-Grant negotiations for their agreement took place over the course of eight days and that that there were previous attempts by McMahon and John Laurinaitis to move the case to arbitration in April 2024 (before the case was paused) and that "Grant did not file an opposition to the then-pending Motions to Compel Arbitration by the June 4, 2024 deadline to do so."
Grant's attorney's must respond by 1/13/25. One should expect Grant's side to present arguments against moving the case to arbitration.
The WWE Board of Directors investigation into McMahon’s relationships with Grant and other women that were uncovered resulted in the revelation that over $14.6 million of the $20 million made in payments should have been recorded as company business expenses. The company amended SEC filings to include those expenses and last year, announced the investigation had been completed with Vince McMahon reimbursing the company.
WWE later announced in a SEC filing, "On July 17, 2023, federal law enforcement agents executed a search warrant and served a federal grand jury subpoena on Mr. McMahon. No charges have been brought in these investigations. WWE has received voluntary and compulsory legal demands for documents, including from federal law enforcement and regulatory agencies, concerning the investigation and related subject matters."
To date, no criminal charges have been filed against McMahon and the status of the investigation remains unknown. A pause on the Grant lawsuit requested by the government expired earlier this month. The United States District Attorney overseeing the McMahon operation has announced he will be resigning ahead of the Trump administration coming into power. How that will cascade over into the McMahon operation remains to be seen. Linda McMahon is expected to be part of Trump's cabinet.
The Grant lawsuit led to McMahon exiting from his role on WWE parent company TKO Group Holdings' Board of Directors as well as his decision to unload a great amount of stock in the company.
Grant's attorney and PR team have not yet commented on yesterday's filings.
PREVIOUS JANEL GRANT LAWSUIT COVERAGE
VINCE MCMAHON, WWE SUED BY FORMER EMPLOYEE ALLEGING SEX TRAFFICKING AND ABUSE AT HANDS OF MCMAHON, JOHN LAUIRINAITIS
by Mike Johnson
1/25/2024 12:57 PM
STATEMENT FROM ATTORNEY REPRESENTING JANEL GRANT, WHO IS SUING WWE AND VINCE MCMAHON
by Mike Johnson
1/25/2024 1:04 PM
NBC AFFILIATE IN RI PUBLISHES COMPLETE MCMAHON LAWSUIT, MORE ON WHY JANEL GRANT FILED SUIT
by Mike Johnson
1/25/2024 2:43 PM
HORRIFIC' - TKO GROUP HOLDING ISSUES STATEMENT ON VINCE MCMAHON ALLEGATIONS IN LAWSUIT
by Mike Johnson
1/25/2024 4:46 PM
ANSWERING SOME OF YOUR VINCE MCMAHON LAWSUIT QUESTIONS
by Mike Johnson
1/26/2024 9:13 AM
FIRST SIGN WWE MAY BE DISTANCING FROM VINCE MCMAHON
by Mike Johnson
1/26/2024 10:33 AM
WWE PULLS VINCE MCMAHON SHIRT FROM ONLINE SALES
by Mike Johnson
1/26/2024 2:06 PM
FORMER WWE BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEMBER STATES INVESTIGATION INTO VINCE MCMAHON INCLUDED 'OUTREACH' TO JANEL GRANT, HER ATTORNEY
by Mike Johnson
1/26/2024 4:56 PM
JANEL GRANT STATEMENT REGARDING MCMAHON, WWE LAWSUIT TO BE RELEASED THIS EVENING VIA CRIME PODCAST
by Mike Johnson
1/26/2024 5:30 PM
INTERNAL WWE REACTION TO VINCE MCMAHON RESIGNATION
by Mike Johnson
1/26/2024 8:49 PM
JANEL GRANT'S ATTORNEY MAKING ROUNDS DISCUSSING VINCE MCMAHON LAWSUIT
by Steven Fernandes
1/27/2024 12:09 PM
INTERNAL REACTION TO VINCE MCMAHON'S TKO & WWE RESIGNATION, WHERE THINGS STAND WITH THE JANEL GRANT LAWSUIT AND LOTS MORE
by Mike Johnson
1/29/2024 9:10 AM
WWE HALL OF FAMERS THE BELLAS COMMENT ON WWE ALLEGATIONS IN GRANT LAWSUIT
by Mike Johnson
1/29/2024 5:26 PM
NEWSWEEK COVERS CALLS FOR BOYCOTT AGAINST WWE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
by Mike Johnson
1/29/2024 7:07 PM
DAVE SCHERER DISCUSSES THE VINCE MCMAHON LAWSUIT, HIS RESIGNATION AND MORE ON SLATE.COM'S WHAT NEXT PODCAST
by Mike Johnson
2/1/2024 9:09 AM
JOHN LAURINAITIS' ATTORNEY COMMENTS ON JANEL GRANT LAWSUIT, SAYS HE WAS A VICTIM OF VINCE MCMAHON AS WELL
by Mike Johnson
2/1/2024 4:09 PM
BROCK LESNAR PULLED FROM WWE 2K SUPERCARD GAME
by Mike Johnson
2/1/2024 8:33 PM
VINCE MCMAHON UNDER FEDERAL CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION, MCMAHON COMMENTS
by Mike Johnson
2/2/2024 8:38 AM
REPORT: VINCE MCMAHON NDAS WERE CREATED WITHOUT WWE KNOWLEDGE
by Mike Johnson
2/2/2024 5:01 PM
WHO TOLD VINCE MCMAHON TO RESIGN FROM TKO AND WWE
by Mike Johnson
2/7/2024 10:00 AM
BRET HART RIPS APART VINCE MCMAHON
by Mike Johnson
2/9/2024 11:24 AM
BROCK LESNAR-WWE 2K UPDATE
by Mike Johnson
2/22/2024 12:44 PM
VINCE MCMAHON LOOKING TO SELL MORE TKO STOCK
by Mike Johnson
3/4/2024 7:10 PM
NICK KHAN, BRAD BLUM AND MORE IDENTIFIED AS WWE CORPORATE OFFICERS IN JANEL GRANT LAWSUIT, WWE COMMENTS
by Mike Johnson
3/11/2024 5:54 PM
JOHN LAURINAITIS ACKNOWLEDGES JANEL GRANT LAWSUIT BEFORE COURT IN CT, WILL RESPOND WITHIN 60 DAYS
by Mike Johnson
3/21/2024 12:29 PM
NEW YORK POST OBTAINS LOVE LETTER FROM JANEL GRANT TO VINCE MCMAHON, GRANT CLAIMS SHE WAS 'COERCED' TO WRITE IT
by Mike Johnson
4/1/2024 12:50 PM
NBC COVERS VINCE MCMAHON'S LIFE AFTER WWE
by Mike Johnson
4/17/2024 2:54 PM
JANEL GRANT FIRES BACK AT VINCE MCMAHON, FILES MOTION ASKING COURT TO STRIKE 'INFLAMMATORY LIES' AGAINST HER
by Mike Johnson
4/24/2024 9:03 PM
JOHN LAURINAITIS ALIGNS WITH VINCE MCMAHON IN JANEL GRANT LAWSUIT
by Mike Johnson
5/2/2024 3:26 PM
HUGE RESIGNATION FROM WWE HAS EYEBROWS RAISED
by Mike Johnson
5/3/2024 10:02 AM
WWE FILES MOTION IN JANEL GRANT CASE, THEY 'ANTICIPATE' THEY TOO WILL SEEK PRIVATE ARBITRATION
by Mike Johnson
5/8/2024 10:33 AM
VINCE MCMAHON FILES 'STATEMENT OF UNDISPUTED FACTS' IN RELATION TO JANEL GRANT LAWSUIT
by Mike Johnson
5/14/2024 7:53 PM
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT BECOMES 'INTERESTED PARTY' IN JANEL GRANT LAWSUIT VS. VINCE MCMAHON, WWE
by Mike Johnson
5/30/2024 1:44 PM
JANEL GRANT PAUSING LAWSUIT FOLLOWING UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT REQUEST, ATTORNEY COMMENTS
by Mike Johnson
5/30/2024 1:51 PM
JOHN LAURINAITIS FILES SWORN STATEMENT IN REGARD TO JANEL GRANT LAWSUIT
by Mike Johnson
6/10/2024 3:19 PM
JANEL GRANT LAWSUIT VS. WWE, VINCE MCMAHON, JOHN LAURINAITIS OFFICIALLY PAUSED
by Mike Johnson
6/12/2024 9:48 AM
JANEL GRANT FILES PRE-ACTION PETITION AGAINST HEALTH PROVIDER
by Steven Fernandes
7/16/2024 3:06 PM
JANEL GRANT MEDIA CALL HIGHLIGHTS
by Mike Johnson
9/19/2024 2:38 PM
JANEL GRANT'S ATTORNEY RESPONDS TO VINCE MCMAHON DECRYING NETFLIX DOCUSERIES
by Mike Johnson
9/23/2024 8:20 PM
REPORT: VINCE MCMAHON TRIED TO BUY NETFLIX SERIES TO PREVENT RELEASE
by Mike Johnson
9/24/2024 10:25 AM
ATTORNEY FOR JANEL GRANT ISSUES STATEMENT ON VINCE MCMAHON DOCUMENTARY
by Mike Johnson
9/25/2024 11:46 PM
ATTORNEYS FOR JANEL GRANT REQUEST GRANT & OTHERS BE RELEASED FROM NDAs
by Mike Johnson
COMPLETE STATEMENT & LETTER FROM ATTORNEYS FOR JANEL GRANT
by Mike Johnson
10/8/2024 10:10 AM
JANEL GRANT'S LATEST LEGAL FILINGS TARGETS MEDICAL CLINIC SHE ALLEGES VINCE MCMAHON SENT HER, GRANT CLAIMS CLINIC REFUSES TO RELEASE HER MEDICAL RECORDS
by Mike Johnson
10/15/2024 9:01 AM
JANEL GRANT ATTORNEY ISSUES STATEMENT ON NEW LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST WWE AND MCMAHONS
by Mike Johnson
10/23/2024 3:31 PM
JANEL GRANT SPOKESPERSON TORCHES WWE FOR NOT HAVING SEXUAL HARASSMENT GUIDELINES ON CORPORATE WEBSITE
by Mike Johnson
10/29/2024 2:50 PM
UNITED STATES DISTRICT ATTORNEY OVERSEEING VINCE MCMAHON INVESTIGATION RESIGNING, ATTORNEY FOR JANEL GRANT COMMENTS
by Mike Johnson
11/26/2024 12:47 PM
STAY ON JANEL GRANT LAWSUIT AGAINST VINCE MCMAHON, WWE, ETC. EXPIRES NEXT WEEK
by Mike Johnson
12/6/2024 11:06 AM
JANEL GRANT LAWSUIT VS. VINCE MCMAHON, WWE, JOHN LAURINAITIS AGAIN ACTIVE
by Mike Johnson
12/11/2024 12:16 PM
JANEL GRANT ATTORNEY ISSUES STATEMENT ABOUT MCMAHON LAWSUIT MOVING FORWARD
by Mike Johnson
12/11/2024 9:15 PM
JANEL GRANT ATTORNEY RESPONDS TO LEE FITTING REPORTS
by Mike Johnson
12/18/2024 4:37 PM
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