Attorneys representing Vince McMahon and WWE have submitted motions to the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, requesting that the lawsuit filed by Janel Grant be moved to arbitration.
Grant, a former WWE employee, has accused McMahon, WWE, and John Laurinaitis of sexual assault and sex trafficking in her lawsuit. She claims she entered into a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) and received a $3 million payment, but McMahon allegedly stopped paying after the first $1 million.
In response, McMahon's legal team argues that the agreement Grant signed with WWE included a provision requiring arbitration for any disputes arising from the contract. The motion further asserts that Grant's decision to file a lawsuit directly violates this arbitration agreement.
Included in the motion is a signed statement from Vince McMahon himself, attesting to the truth of his account of the events under the penalty of perjury.
From the court filing:
"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."
"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."
"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."
