WWE’s Vince McMahon was hit with another lawsuit this month after his sudden return to the company and promotion to Executive Chairman of the WWE Board of Directors. Two lawsuits have already been made public, accusing him of breaching fiduciary duties and hamstringing the company by changing certain bylaws. This new lawsuit — according to Bloomberg — is targeted at McMahon’s sexual assault allegations, as a group of investors is reportedly suing McMahon over paying to cover up those alleged misconduct accusations.
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“The other group of investors, meanwhile — those suing over McMahon’s alleged history of paying to cover up sexual harassment accusations — are seeking to sever their case from the consolidated action. That could keep the bylaw-related claims alive, interfering with any fee request,” Bloomberg reported.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that McMahon paid nearly $20 million in non-disclosure agreements to multiple women, including former WWE wrestlers and employees, to keep various sexual misconduct allegations quiet. It was then reported last week that McMahon recently settled with Rita Chatterton for millions of dollars. The former WWE Referee accused McMahon of raping her back in the mid-80s and had come forward seeking a settlement late last year.
WWE CEO Nick Khan discussed McMahon’s return to the company last week in an interview with The Ringer’s Bill Simmons. Khan seemed confident that a no new allegations would emerge, though WWE’s Board did release a statement indicating they had found something about McMahon that still hadn’t been made public.
“It is also our unanimous view that your return to the Company at this time, while government investigation into your conduct by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and SEC are still pending, would not be prudent from a shareholder value perspective. The determination is based on a variety of factors, including non-public information that the Board has become aware of and the risks to the Company and its shareholders of placing a greater spotlight of these issues,” the Board’s statement read last month in response to McMahon’s initial request to be reinstated.
“It feels like whatever happened, happened, and it’s out there and people know. I’ve always found him to be a very honest broker with this stuff. Even when the process started last summer, there was nothing that he hid, nothing that he covered up. He was very honest about it, I appreciated that, and I think a lot of other folks did too,” Khan said in the interview.
