There has been a new update in the lawsuit against Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis, and WWE.
In January, Janel Grant filed an amended complaint in her case against Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis, and WWE. The amended complaint contained new evidence of her allegations of physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault, and trafficking at WWE.
Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics has reported an update, writing that Vince McMahon’s legal team filed opposition to the amended complaint; his legal team argues that Grant’s request is untimely, and it was made in bad faith.
Jessa T. Rosenberg, one of McMahon’s attorneys, wrote that, “[Grant’s] filing is teeming with proposed additional allegations” that were available to her when she filed her initial complaint “and is a bad faith attempt to use this Court’s docket to gain an advantage in the court of public opinion.”
Furthermore, an attorney for Laurinaitis also submitted a filing that adopted these arguments, while WWE’s attorneys had yet to submit a filing in response.
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Vince McMahon’s legal team argues that Janel Grant has not provided a “legitimate reason” fo the delay in filing her new complaint, and a number of the proposed changes are legally “futile”, while most of them are not new allegations.
McMahon’s motion also contends that Grant’s legal team has utilized “stale” allegations in order to get media attention, and they argue that a lot of the claims in the new motion use information that Grant allegedly had when the lawsuit was initially filed in January 2024, though it was not initially used.
Plus, the opposition asserts that any new allegations regarding the claim that McMahon coerced Grant into signing an NDA are irrelevant because she accepted the settlement payment. In doing so, they argue that Grant essentially made the contract valid.
Vince McMahon’s team also claimed that the press release that Grant’s team put out alongside the updated complaint was “tabloid-style”, as it claimed that it contained “never-before-seen text and voice messages from McMahon.” They argue that Grant’s “stated objective” was to “bring more firepower” to the case from a PR perspective.
McMahon’s opposition also argues that the changes to Janel Grant’s complaint were a PR tactic that didn’t add “meaningful legal substance to the case.” The filing also reiterates that the SEC’s ruling in January was not an admission of guilt.
Vince McMahon’s reps also issued the following statement, courtesy of BJ Bethel:
Next, Judge Sarah F. Russell will rule as to whether Grant will be permitted to proceed with her amended complaint. If not, the suit will stay in its initial form, with the original January 2024 complaint.
WrestleZone will provide more information as it becomes available.
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