Woman accusing Vince McMahon of sexual abuse asks WWE to waive confidentiality agreements

A former WWE worker who filed a lawsuit in opposition to the corporate and ex-leader Vince McMahon, accusing him of sexual battery and trafficking, is asking them to not implement nondisclosure agreements with different former and present workers and contractors to allow them to probably come ahead with comparable accusations.

A lawyer for Janel Grant emailed a letter making the request late Monday to attorneys representing WWE, McMahon and John Laurinaitis, a former WWE government and wrestler, in Grant’s lawsuit in opposition to them.

A spokesperson for McMahon, Curtis Vogel, declined to remark. Attorneys for WWE and Laurinaitis didn’t instantly return emails in search of remark late Monday. Emails to the WWE and its dad or mum firms, Endeavor Group Holdings and its subsidiary, TKO Group Holdings, additionally weren’t returned instantly.

McMahon, former CEO and chairman of WWE, has denied Grant’s allegations.

Grant, who labored in WWE’s authorized and expertise departments from 2019 to 2022, sued the corporate, McMahon and Laurinaitis in January, making graphic allegations of sexual assault, harassment, trafficking and different bodily and emotional abuse.

McMahon stepped down as WWE’s CEO in 2022 amid an organization investigation into allegations that match these in Grant’s lawsuit. He additionally resigned as government chairman of the board of administrators TKO Group Holdings in January, a day after Grant filed her lawsuit.

“If WWE and its dad or mum firm Endeavor are critical about parting methods with Vince McMahon and the poisonous office tradition he created, their executives should not have any drawback with releasing former WWE workers from their NDAs,” Ann Callis, Grant’s legal professional, stated in a press release. “This is step one to rehabilitating an organization that coated up a long time of sexual assault and human trafficking.”

McMahon beforehand responded to Grant’s lawsuit with a press release calling it “replete with lies, obscene made-up situations that by no means occurred, and is a vindictive distortion of the reality. I intend to vigorously defend myself in opposition to these baseless accusations, and look ahead to clearing my identify.” His attorneys stated in court docket paperwork that he had a consensual relationship with Grant and by no means mistreated her.

Laurinaitis’ lawyer has denied the allegations, and stated Laurinaitis was additionally a sufferer within the case.

Grant says she was pressured into leaving her job with the WWE and signing a $3 million nondisclosure settlement. The lawsuit additionally seeks to have the settlement declared invalid, saying McMahon breached the deal by giving her $1 million and failing to pay the remaining.

4 different girls — all previously affiliated with WWE — signed agreements with McMahon that bar them from discussing their relationships with him, the Wall Avenue Journal reported in July 2022, citing individuals accustomed to the offers and paperwork it reviewed. Grant was not amongst these girls, her representatives say.

In December 2022, McMahon agreed to pay a feminine former wrestling referee hundreds of thousands of {dollars} to settle her allegations that he raped her in 1986, the Journal additionally reported. McMahon stated the alleged sexual assault by no means occurred, and his lawyer stated he settled the swimsuit to keep away from expensive litigation.

Grant’s request for the Stamford, Connecticut-based WWE to waive enforcement of the NDAs is just like ones made to different firms when sexual misconduct allegations arose.

In 2018 and 2019, respectively, the Weinstein Co. and NBC Common launched workers, former workers and others from NDAs made in reference to sexual misconduct claims in opposition to film mogul Harvey Weinstein and “At present” host Matt Lauer.

Victims’ attorneys name NDAs devices to silence accusers whereas permitting alleged abusers to keep away from accountability. A federal regulation authorised in 2022 and comparable legal guidelines in additional than a dozen states curb the usage of NDAs that block victims of sexual harassment from talking publicly about their allegations.

The Related Press doesn’t usually identify individuals who make sexual assault allegations except they arrive ahead publicly, which Grant did.

She alleges McMahon compelled her right into a sexual relationship with him to ensure that her to get and maintain a job, and later directed her to have sexual relations with others together with Laurinaitis. She additionally accuses McMahon and Laurinaitis of sexually assaulting her at WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.

The lawsuit additional claims McMahon recruited different individuals for sexual relations with Grant, shared pornographic pictures and movies of her with different males together with WWE workers regardless of saying he wouldn’t and subjected her to merciless and humiliating acts.

McMahon purchased what was then the World Wrestling Federation in 1982 and remodeled it from a regional wrestling firm right into a worldwide phenomenon. Apart from working the corporate along with his spouse, Linda, he additionally carried out at WWE occasions as himself.