Vince McMahon’s team files opposition to Janel Grant’s request for extension, lawyer issues statement

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After a filing on Monday by Janel Grant’s team, Vince McMahon’s legal representation filed an opposition to the renewed motion for a status conference.

On Monday, Janel Grant’s legal team filed a request for additional time for its amended complaint, which they had originally set to file this Wednesday. 

Plaintiff still intends to amend her complaint as of right.  Though Plaintiff was prepared to on January 15, the recent SEC Consent Order and findings regarding Defendants’ nondisclosure agreement with Ms. Grant necessitate additional time for her counsel to assess these developments and incorporate these new (and still-developing) facts into her Amended Complaint.  Plaintiff believes that submitting one, comprehensive Amended Complaint after a proper investigation of these developments will promote efficiency and best preserve judicial resources.

Later in the day, McMahon’s team filed its own request that the District Court of Connecticut move the pending motion to compel arbitration in the case ” or, alternatively, to order Plaintiff to respond to the Motion no later than January 20, 2025.”

McMahon’s filing argues that the plaintiffs could have filed an amended complaint any time over the past three weeks as they noted today was the deadline and representing 21 days since McMahon’s motion to compel arbitration was filed on December 21 with co-defendants WWE and John Laurinatis following suit. 

They argue that the SEC’s recent ruling does not constitute “compelling circumstances” to extend the period required to refile their complaint and that there is no need for a status conference.

As Plaintiff’s own filing acknowledges, the SEC Consent Order announced a settlement related to accounting disclosures—issues unrelated to this matter. Further, Defendant McMahon did not admit or deny any of the findings and thus, the Consent Order does not contain any admissions that could be used in this case. The Consent Order has absolutely no impact on the validity of the parties’ arbitration agreement or the arbitrability of their claims. Plaintiff makes no argument that it does. Nor does it impact the deadline for Plaintiff to file an opposition to a motion that has been pending for three weeks.

McMahon’s final request was that if the court does grant the request for an extension, it be no later than next Monday.

The following statement was issued to POST Wrestling on behalf of McMahon’s lawyer, Jessica T. Rosenberg:

The recent federal investigation resulted in no criminal indictments from the SDNY, while the SEC settlement relates to minor accounting issues at WWE that have nothing to do with this case.  Any claims to the contrary made by Janel Grant’s team are just another desperate PR stunt.

Kendra Barkoff Lamy of SKDK, representing Grant, issued a statement on Monday evening:

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Born on a Friday, John Pollock is a reporter, editor & podcaster at POST Wrestling. He runs and owns POST Wrestling alongside Wai Ting.