Latest Update On Vince McMahon-WWE Lawsuit

The lawsuit filed by former WWE employee Janel Grant against Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis and the company themselves on the grounds of sexual misconduct continues to be one of the most talked about news stories in professional wrestling today. On March 28, the latest update in the case was that Grant's legal team had asked the court to move the case to discovery and begin depositions, and in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer broke down the details of this move, and what it could mean for the future of the case.

While Grant's team are eager to advance the case to its next stage, lawyers representing McMahon, Laurinaitis, and WWE are opposing the move as they believe the case doesn't need discovery, preferring the case to be moved to the court of arbitration instead. The judge for the case, Sarah F. Russell, will be the one to make the final call on what happens next, but it's not yet clear on when that decision will be made. With that said, the day that the decision is made will undoubtedly be one of the most important moments in the case up to this point.

Meltzer explained that Grant's legal time want to add things to their evidence so that the case can continue in court, reportedly asking for documents that any other subsidiary, current or former executives, employees, contractors, agents, and any other personnel of WWE, TKO, and Endeavor could be included in. On the other hand, McMahon's legal team believe that there is no need for discovery and depositions as they say that the new evidence wasn't included in the initial lawsuit filed back in January 2024, meaning that it should all be stricken from the record, as those details had not been disclosed originally.

Along with the new evidence that could include other people who have worked for WWE during the time of Grant's allegations, there are more specific things that Grant's legal team are looking to include. Meltzer explained that they are looking for all of the documentation relating McMahon's payments to any other unnamed women that signed similar non-disclosure agreements to what Grant signed, as well as any payments to former WWE referee Rita Chatterton, and the policies WWE put in place within the company regarding to sexual harassment in the workplace. 

What's more, Grant's legal team are also looking to include travel records submitted from McMahon, Laurinaitis, and former WWE Champion Brock Lesnar, who was officially named in the amended complaint that was filed at the end of January 2025. As expected, the opposition are arguing against this, with WWE's attorney Paul Weiss stating that federal court in Connecticut allows discovery to be delayed until the judge, in this case Sarah F. Russell, makes her eventual decision.

Meltzer rounded off by saying people on McMahon's side told him that when the case was originally filed, they actually wanted depositions as soon as possible due to their belief that once they started, the case would have ended almost immediately as Grant would have been exposed for making up the allegations. This was something Meltzer had expected as he understands that McMahon's team want to play the legally tactical game in order to avoid the case going to court and instead going to arbitration, but he is still amazed seeing how everything has played out so far as he knows that the future of this case could have a lasting impact on WWE, and the wider wrestling world if things don't go McMahon's way.