Yet another new layer has been added to the ongoing civil lawsuit filed by former WWE employee Janel Grant, who is suing Vince McMahon and WWE for sexual assault and trafficking. This time, the news comes from the defendant's side; on Friday afternoon, McMahon refiled his motion to compel arbitration (legally requiring parties to resolve their differences through a neutral third party outside of a traditional court system) in the Grant case.
Wrestlenomics reporter Brandon Thurston posted a copy of McMahon's motion on X (formerly known as Twitter).Fridaywas the deadline for McMahon and WWE to each resubmit their motions to compel arbitration; as of this writing, there's been no confirmation on if WWE resubmitted its motion. The defendants of this case have pushed to move this lawsuit to private arbitration, citing that Grant and McMahon signed a nondisclosure agreement in January 2022, two years before the lawsuit began.
Last month, Judge Russell rejected arguments from McMahon and WWE, who filed motions against Grant's latest round of amended complaints that included additional details of allegations and identities of previously anonymous figures. Judge Russell mentioned in her rulings that the amended complaints by the defendants shouldn't be allowed because it would be legally "futile" or in "bad faith." The court did find that Grant met the low legal threshold required to revise her complaint at this relatively early stage of litigation, according to Thurston's report on May 7. Thurston's report also notes that "Russell's order does not evaluate the truth of the allegations made in Grant's complaints, nor does it rule on the defendants' request to move the case to arbitration."
