Vince McMahon and WWE are pushing back hard against Janel Grants latest move in court and they dont want to hand over any new evidence.
On Monday night, both McMahon and WWE filed court documents opposing Grants request to obtain more evidence before a judge decides whether her sex trafficking lawsuit should be sent to private arbitration. McMahons legal team called the request nothing more than a fishing expedition and insisted Grant hasnt met the legal requirements to demand pre-arbitration discovery.
The lawsuit, first filed by Grant in January 2024, accuses McMahon of sex trafficking and sexual assault, while also claiming WWE enabled his behavior. McMahon has denied all allegations. At the center of the legal battle is a non-disclosure agreement Grant signed when she left WWE in early 2022, which included a $3 million payout and an arbitration clause keeping disputes out of public court. Grant argues she was coerced into signing that deal.
McMahons legal team slammed her latest request for internal records, saying, The Court should refuse to indulge Plaintiffs improper fishing expedition and deny the Motion in full.
Grants legal team, however, isnt buying it. In a statement to POST Wrestling, her representatives fired back, saying McMahon and WWE are trying to avoid accountability by hiding behind legal technicalities. If they have nothing to hide, they should embrace this opportunity for transparency, they said.
WWEs attorneys from the Paul Weiss firm echoed McMahons stance, writing, Grant is not entitled to motion-related discovery. She has entirely failed to allege sufficient facts calling into question the validity of the arbitration provision.
Grants discovery request reportedly included 20 different categories of evidence, such as internal emails and WWE Board of Directors meeting minutes dating back to 2019. But WWE and McMahon argue those requests have little to do with the narrow issue of whether the NDAs arbitration clause is valid.
WWE called the request a transparent attempt to circumvent the Courts stay order, saying Grant is trying to trigger full-blown discovery before the judge even rules on the arbitration question.
The case remains tied up in legal arguments with no clear resolution in sight.
What do you think? Should WWE and McMahon hand over the documents or is Grant overstepping? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.
