Vince & Linda McMahon, TKO File To Dismiss WWE Ring Boy Lawsuit

Linda McMahon, Vince McMahon, and WWE have each filed to dismiss the "Ring Boy" lawsuit against them in the Maryland District Court. The lawsuit was filed by five anonymous plaintiffs in Maryland alleging that the McMahons had neglected and failed to protect them from sexual abuse at the hands of WWE ring announcer Mel Phillips while working as "ring boys" throughout the 1980s. 

At the center of the plaintiffs' case is Maryland's Child Victims Act of 2023. The case had been delayed previously as the Supreme Court decided whether the CVA's removal of the statute of limitations would be upheld as constitutional. It was ruled in February that the law would be upheld and the case resumed.  

However, Ms. McMahon's attorneys have since argued that the complaint lacks "any basis for personal jurisdiction" over the defendants in the state. It's further contended that McMahon has no sufficient connection to Maryland for the lawsuit to continue in the state's District Court, and a personal declaration from herself is included as an exhibit in the filing. 

"I recently learned the true names of John Does 1-5. To the best of my knowledge and recollection, I have never met or communicated with John Does 1-5. Until this lawsuit, I was unaware of their allegations against me or anyone else named in the complaint," McMahon wrote. "I never personally supervised Phillips while he was employed by WWE, nor did I direct his activities... If Phillips traveled to Maryland and committed acts of sexual abuse while in Maryland, it was certainly not at my direction nor with my knowledge." 

McMahon further claims she never personally employed "Ring Boys" as the term was defined in the initial complaint, and it is argued that she held no legally cognizable duty of care for plaintiffs as employees. 

Presiding Judge James K. Bredar previously approved an order allowing the defendants to know the names, birth dates, and current residential addresses of the anonymous plaintiffs, with the concession that they will not be publicly declared or revealed to anyone else but those litigating the suit.

Mr. McMahon and TKO likewise filed to dismiss the complaint on jurisdictional grounds after Ms. McMahon. In TKO's filing, it is suggested that the plaintiffs chose Maryland to file the suit in an attempt to benefit from the CVA, "Plaintiffs appear to have selected Maryland as their forum of choice in an attempt to benefit from the recently enacted [CVA]... But Plaintiffs' claims do not belong here." 

It is also contended by TKO that the plaintiffs had failed to outline how WWE or TKO is liable under "any theory of successor liability," with the alleged abuse occurring when the company was owned by the McMahons solely under "WWF." They conclude their argument that the case should be dismissed on the grounds that the plaintiffs' "claims fail to plead that TKO or WWE was, or should have been, aware of Phillips' alleged conduct."

Mr. McMahon's filing echoes the belief that the plaintiffs' brought the case forward in Maryland to capitalize on the CVA for what is described as "decades-old allegations," despite what is once again argued as a lack of rightful jurisdiction over the defendants by the state. 

It's argued by McMahon's attorneys that while the CVA would repeal the statute of limitations it does not eliminate the requirement of the court to hold personal jurisdiction over the parties before it. Again it is argued by McMahon's attorneys that there is a lack of a legally cognizable duty of care owed to them by the defendants. 

"The Complaint attempts to manufacture such knowledge by spouting a broad catalog of negative press, unfounded opinions, speculation, and multi-level hearsay from a hodgepodge of characters (many of whom are deceased)," McMahon's filing reads. It's concluded in the filing that the court should dismiss the case on the grounds that there was no way McMahon could have foreseen Phillips' alleged conduct.