Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis, WWE Collectively Anticipate Moving Sex Trafficking Lawsuit Away From Federal Court

WWE has stated that it "anticipates filing a motion to compel arbitration and stay this action pending arbitration."

By Liam Crowley

The Vince McMahon lawsuit continues. This past January, former WWE employee Janel Grant filed a lawsuit against former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, former WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis and WWE as a whole. The lawsuit alleged that McMahon had sex trafficked, emotionally abused, and sexually assaulted Grant. While Laurinaitis was fired by WWE back in Summer 2022 for his involvement in a prior sexual misconduct situation, McMahon had been in power up until this lawsuit, which led to him resigning from WWE entirely. McMahon has since been selling all of his WWE stock, severing ties completely with the company.

Grant's lawsuit is now coming to a head. McMahon, Laurinaitis, and World Wrestling Entertainment were issued "waivers of service" back in March, dictating that they respond to the summoning within 60 days, which is a May 14th deadline.

VINCE-MCMAHON-JOHN-LAURINAITIS-WWE-FILE-ARBITRATION-FEDERAL-COURT-JANEL-GRANT-LAWSUIT
(Photo: WWE)

As revealed in a new court document, WWE has stated that it "anticipates filing a motion to compel arbitration and stay this action pending arbitration" in Grant's lawsuit. 

This means that all three defendants (McMahon, Laurinaitis, WWE) want this lawsuit to be removed from federal court and pivoted to a private arbitration with an independent arbitrator determining the outcome. McMahon, Laurinaitis, and WWE have until that aforementioned May 14th deadline to officially file a motion for arbitration, leaving with Grant until June 18th to respond.

McMahon and Laurinaitis have already filed their motions. As of this writing, WWE has not.

"Plaintiff and Defendant (collectively, the 'Parties') engaged in a consensual relationship during which Defendant never coerced Plaintiff into doing anything and never mistreated her in any way," McMahon's filing to compel arbitration on April 23rd stated.

Laurinaitis joined McMahon in filing to compel arbitration on May 2nd.

"Mr. Laurinaitis corroborates Mr. McMahon in publicly declaring that Ms. Grant's allegations of sexual abuse and coercion in her Complaint are completely unfounded," Laurinaitis's filing statement reads. "My client will fight these false allegations together with Mr. McMahon in the proper forum, arbitration."

Laurinaitis's filing specifically backtracked his stance from just two months prior, where his lawyer labeled him as a "victim" of McMahon's "power [and] control."

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"Mr. Laurinaitis denies the allegations in the misguided complaint and will be vigorously defending these charges in Court, not the media," Laurinaitis' lawyer Edward Brennan said in a February statement. "Like the Plaintiff, Mr. Laurinaitis is a victim in this case, not a predator. The truth will come out. Read the allegations. Read the Federal Statute. Power, control, employment supervisory capacity, dictatorial sexual demands with repercussions if not met. Count how many times in the complaint Vince exerts control over both of them."

ComicBook will provide updates on this lawsuit as it develops.

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