Vince McMahon and his team have submitted a new statement to support their motion of arbitration in the Janel Grant lawsuit.
Back in January 2024, Vince McMahon was accused of trafficking and multiple counts of sexual misconduct by former WWE employee Janel Grant. The allegations forced McMahon to resign from WWE and from TKO Holdings while continually denying all allegations.
In April 2024, McMahon’s team filed a motion to compel arbitration for the lawsuit, which Grant’s team have argued should be stricken from the record. On May 13th, McMahon once again issued a statement where he claimed that the relationship with Grant was consensual and that they should still move forward with arbitration. On May 14th, a new statement has been provided.
The court filing describes the facts as “undisputed and conclusively resolve the forum dispute before the Court” and lists a number of statements which McMahon’s team claim to be true and support their case for arbitration:
1. Plaintiff Janel Grant (“Plaintiff”) and McMahon (collectively, the “Parties”) had a three-year relationship which ended in or about January 2022.
2. During their entire relationship, Plaintiff lived in the same luxury apartment building as Defendant.
3. When Plaintiff and Defendant’s relationship ended, they entered into a contract entitled Confidential Settlement Agreement, General Release and Covenant Not to Sue
4. Before the Parties involved their respective attorneys in the negotiation of the Agreement, Plaintiff herself negotiated the monetary compensation that Defendant would pay
her under the Agreement from $1,000,000 (the amount initially offered by Defendant) to $3,000,000.
5. The Parties were represented by counsel in connection with the drafting and negotiation of the Agreement: Jonathan M. Shapiro of Aeton Law Partners LLP for Plaintiff, and Jerry S. McDevitt of K&L Gates for Defendant.Section X of the Agreement, in its entirety, states:
In the event of any dispute arising under or out of this Agreement, its construction, interpretation, application, performance or breach, the parties agree to first attempt to resolve such disputes informally and prior to taking any formal legal action to resolve such disputes. In the event any such dispute cannot be resolved informally, all parties hereto agree that the sole and exclusive legal method to resolve any and all disputes and/or controversies is to commence binding arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act pursuant to the procedures of the American Arbitration Association and to do so by sealed proceedings which preserve the confidential and private nature of this Agreement. The parties agree to discuss the venue for any such arbitration proceeding if and when such a dispute arises which cannot be informally resolved; but in the event the parties cannot agree on a venue then the exclusive venue for any arbitration proceeding shall be in Stamford, Connecticut. The prevailing party, as determined by the arbitration tribunal, shall be entitled to recover from the non-prevailing party all of its attorney’s fees and costs.
WWE Joins Vince McMahon In Filing For Arbitration
The same day that McMahon issued his “Statement Of Undisputed Material Facts”, WWE also submitted a court filing where they also filed to compel arbitration:
Plaintiff Janel Grant brings this action against Vincent K. McMahon, John Laurinaitis, and WWE alleging that, while employed at WWE, she was subjected to physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault, and sex trafficking by McMahon and Laurinaitis. WWE disputes Grant’s allegations. But, as a threshold matter, this dispute cannot be heard in court because Grant agreed to arbitrate her claims. WWE therefore moves to compel this action to arbitration.
Featured image: WWE
