Vince McMahon, WWE, & Janel Grant Jointly Ask Court To Move Lawsuit Into Private Arbitration

The highly publicized lawsuit by former WWE employee Janel Grant against former WWE Chairman and TKO executive, Vince McMahon, and WWE, looks to be moving into private arbitration. POST Wrestling reports Grant, McMahon, and WWE filed a joint motion today (June 11) in the U.S District Court for the District of Connecticut, requesting that the litigation continue in private arbitration.

Grant filed a lawsuit against McMahon, former WWE executive John Laurinaitis, and WWE in January 2024, alleging sexual misconduct and sexual trafficking. Laurinaitis was later dropped from the lawsuit after he agreed to cooperate and provide evidence.

McMahon and WWE have previously been pushing for the case to move into arbitration, citing an arbitration clause in the nondisclosure agreement that Grant signed with McMahon in 2022. Judge Sarah F. Russell has reportedly not yet ruled on the joint motion, but the report notes that courts rarely reject motions that all parties jointly request/

Also, the filing states that the three parties are “in active discussions regarding a potential agreement to arbitrate the dispute in confidential arbitration.” The new filing doesn’t offer an explanation regarding Grant’s change in position and her willingness to take her lawsuit into private arbitration. POST’s Brandon Thurston also reports that an attorney for Grant did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.

Representatives for McMahon declined to comment on the development. Meanwhile, an inquiry to WWE’s press representatives was reportedly not immediately responded to.

The lawsuit was scheduled for a hearing on Monday, June 16 to argue the issue, along with whether Grant would be allowed to retrieve evidence from the defendants supporting her litigation of the arbitration question. Today’s filing also requests that the hearing be postponed, or “temporarily adjourned,” with an update scheduled for three weeks.

Arbitration allows for legal disputes to be resolved without a public court. Until today’s filing, Grant argued that the arbitration provision in her nondisclosure agreement shouldn’t be enforced, claiming that she was coerced into signing the agreement under duress. Here is the full text of the new filing:

“PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the parties respectfully submit this joint motion for a short adjournment of the upcoming hearing on Defendants’ Motions to Compel Arbitration and Plaintiff’s Renewed Motion for Leave to Serve Motion-Related Discovery, which is currently scheduled for June 16, 2026. The parties are in active discussions regarding a potential agreement to arbitrate the dispute in confidential arbitration that would moot those motions. They seek this relief in good faith, to avoid unnecessarily consuming the Court’s and the parties’ resources—and so they can focus on progressing the potential arbitration agreement. The Parties respectfully propose that the Court temporarily adjourn the hearing and allow them to file a Joint Status Report within 21 days.”

After Janel Grant filed her lawsuit in January 2024, Vince McMahon resigned from his position as Executive of the Board of TKO. McMahon denied Grant’s allegations against him.

The scandal regarding allegations of sexual misconduct against McMahon initially came out in the summer of 2022. However, Janel Grant’s name was not made public until she filed her lawsuit in January 2024.

McMahon initially resigned from his post as Chairman of WWE in July 2022. He later returned the following year, facilitating the sale of WWE to WME. WWE and UFC later merged under the newly formed TKO banner later that year.

If you know someone who is being abused, or if you yourself are a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Call 1-800-656-4673 to be connected with the National Sexual Assault Hotline.