Vince McMahon’s NDAs May Be Unenforceable, Per Experts

The NDAs that Vince McMahon entered into with women may not be enforceable, according to several experts in a new report. As you are no doubt aware of, McMahon resigned from TKO and is under federal investigation following a lawsuit filed by Janel Grant accusing him of sex trafficking, sexual assault and more. John Laurinaitis is also a defendant in the suit for his alleged involvement, as well as WWE of negligence in the matter and attempting to cover it up. McMahon’s situation may be even worse, as VICE reports that according to experts they spoke with, the NDAs are overly broad to the point of potentially being unenforceable.

The report notes that according to a person familiar with the matter, McMahon had the NDAs he signed with several women to keep them quiet about his sexual misconduct drafted without WWE’s knowledge and entered into them secretly. This is why, when WWE became aware of the payments, they had to issue revised earning statements. The report notes that the contract was executed with McMahon signing on his own behalf as well as WWE after seeking counsel from his then-attorney Jerry McDevitt.

A number of legal experts that the outlet spoke to cited various issues with the lawsuits well. Carrie Goldberg, who represented a number of Harvey Weinstein’s victims, called the NDA — seen as an exhibit in the lawsuit filed by Grant — “poorly drafted” and overly broad to the point that it could even be interpreted to prevent Grant from listing WWE on her resume. Goldberg noted that “The NDA makes references to confidentiality, but there’s no definition of what to be confidential about. It’s very vague. Usually there’s super-specific information about what to be confidential about.”

Goldberg also notes that the copy of the NDA Grant filed in federal court in Connecticut wasn’t actually signed by McMahon; normally, all parties would have an executed copy of the contract and thus Grant does not. UC Law San Francisco Jodi Short said in an email that she believes the NDA is invalid on its face, though that may not mean much in practical terms, noting:

“It is my considered opinion that NDAs such as the one you sent me are unenforceable under common law contract doctrine. But there is very little case law squarely on point, and litigating such a case would expose an individual to enormous cost and litigation risk. That’s why most people end up silenced by NDAs even if, technically, they’re not worth the paper they’re written on. It’s not just the paper. It’s paper backed by an extreme asymmetry in resources between the two parties.”

Former Fox News Channel host Julie Roginsky, who sued her former network over sexual harassment and was bound to an NDA herself, pointed out that Connecticut is considering legislation that would ban NDAs amd could end up being retroactive. She told the outlet, “I’m hoping the Vince McMahon example spurs the Connecticut legislature to do the right thing.”