Motion For Early Discovery Denied In Janel Grant Lawsuit Against Vince McMahon

Early discovery won’t happen in Janel Grant’s lawsuit against Vince McMahon, as the motion has been denied. As reported in March of last year, Grant’s legal team filed a motion seeking to move her lawsuit against the disgraced WWE Chairman to the discovery phase. Grant was seeking to move the suit to discovery to support her case for avoiding the case being moved to arbitration. POST Wrestling reports that the judge in the case denied the request, though she noted that Grant could renew the motion later.

The judge ruled that Grant had not established good cause for moving to discovery before McMahon, WWE, and TKO file their motions seeking to compel arbitration. She indicated that she may reconsider the motion once those motions are submitted.

The judge’s order states:

“Plaintiff [Grant] seeks discovery to support several grounds for avoiding arbitration. The court expresses no opinion as to the merits of these forthcoming arguments, or any other grounds that Plaintiff may choose to assert in opposition to Defendants’ Motions to Compel Arbitration. But the court has determined that it cannot evaluate from the current record whether discovery from Defendants is required to resolve the applicability of defenses Plaintiff may raise to arbitration. Thus, Plaintiff has not met her burden to show good cause for taking discovery before responding to Defendants’ Motions to Compel Arbitration. Plaintiff may renew her Motion for Leave to Take Discovery in conjunction with filing her response in opposition to Defendants’ Motions to Compel. After reviewing the briefing, the court will determine whether to permit the parties to take limited, reciprocal discovery.”

Neither party has yet commented on the ruling. Grant filed suit in January of 2024 accusing McMahon of sexual assault, trafficking, and abuse. McMahon, who has denied the allegations, resigned from TKO and WWE the next day.