Janel Grant Lawsuit: Allegations, NDA, and Arbitration

The Janel Grant lawsuit is a federal case filed in January 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, in which a former WWE employee accuses Vince McMahon, WWE, and former executive John Laurinaitis of sex trafficking, sexual assault, and coercing her into a nondisclosure agreement. After more than two years of public litigation, the parties jointly agreed in June 2026 to move the dispute into confidential arbitration, meaning any eventual ruling or settlement is unlikely to be made public.¹

What Grant Alleges

Grant worked at WWE from June 2019 through early 2022, first as an administrator-coordinator in the legal department and later in talent relations under Laurinaitis.² Her complaint, originally 67 pages and later expanded to 94, alleges that McMahon made her employment contingent on entering a sexual relationship with him and then subjected her to sexual exploitation on a near-daily basis over roughly three years.

According to the filing, McMahon recorded explicit content without her consent and shared intimate photos and videos of her with other men inside and outside the company, including a “world-famous athlete and former UFC Heavyweight Champion” whom WWE was trying to sign. Reporting has identified that individual as Brock Lesnar, who was later named directly in the amended complaint.³

The complaint alleges that after Grant transferred to talent relations in March 2021, McMahon directed her to visit Laurinaitis for sexual encounters before workdays, and that in June 2021 McMahon and Laurinaitis cornered her behind a locked office door and sexually assaulted her.² The filing also describes physical violence, including an incident in May 2020 in which McMahon allegedly defecated on her during a sexual encounter. Throughout the relationship, according to the complaint, McMahon threatened her with “world-class legal resources” and “reputational ruin” if she disclosed his conduct.

The amended complaint also named WWE President Nick Khan and former Chief Operating Officer Brad Blum, alleging McMahon told Grant he had privately informed both men of the sexual nature of the relationship and that both were “ultimately supportive.” Grant alleges they observed her physical deterioration but “chose to turn a blind eye.”⁴ Neither Khan nor Blum is personally accused of sexual misconduct. WWE denied that either was aware of any claim of abuse before the lawsuit was filed and specifically denied the alleged meeting in which McMahon purportedly disclosed the relationship.⁵

The NDA at the Center of the Case

In January 2022, according to the complaint, McMahon told Grant his wife had discovered the relationship and demanded she sign a nondisclosure agreement, promising $3 million in exchange for her silence. Grant alleges she was pressured to sign under duress and that McMahon stopped paying after $1 million.⁶

That agreement has driven nearly every procedural fight in the case. Grant is asking the court to declare the NDA invalid under the federal Speak Out Act and state law, arguing it was the product of coercion.² McMahon’s team argues the opposite: that by accepting the first $1 million payment she ratified the contract, and that its arbitration clause requires the entire dispute to be resolved privately. In an April 2024 motion to compel arbitration, McMahon pointed to Section X of the January 2022 agreement, which he says covers “any” dispute between the parties, and argued that the Speak Out Act does not bar arbitration because the statute does not mention the word “arbitration.”⁷

McMahon’s Response

McMahon has denied all of Grant’s allegations. His legal team has called the lawsuit “replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and a vindictive distortion of the truth.”⁸ He maintains the relationship with Grant was consensual, lasted nearly three years, and ended in early 2022.⁷ His attorneys have characterized the amended complaint as a “bad faith attempt to use this Court’s docket to gain an advantage in the court of public opinion” and described it as “tabloid-style.”⁹

Fallout Outside the Courtroom

McMahon’s Resignation

One day after the lawsuit was filed, on January 26, 2024, McMahon resigned as executive chairman of TKO Group Holdings, the parent company formed by the 2023 merger of WWE and UFC, and stepped down from TKO’s board. He said his departure was “[o]ut of respect for the WWE Universe, the extraordinary TKO business and its board members and shareholders, partners and constituents.”⁸

Federal Criminal Investigation Closed Without Charges

Federal investigators in the Southern District of New York had been looking at McMahon before the civil lawsuit was even filed, serving him with a grand jury subpoena and executing a search warrant in July 2023.¹⁰ In May 2024, at the U.S. Attorney’s request, Grant agreed to pause her civil case so as not to interfere.¹¹ A federal judge later found there was “probable cause to believe” McMahon and a former lawyer broke the law by circumventing WWE’s internal accounting controls and creating “false books and records,” a ruling affirmed by the Second Circuit.¹²

Despite those findings, the criminal investigation ended without charges. In February 2025, McMahon’s attorney Robert W. Allen said the government had confirmed the “investigation has definitively concluded and will not result in charges.”¹³

SEC Settlement

On January 10, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a separate settlement with McMahon. The SEC found he had circumvented WWE’s internal financial controls by executing two secret settlement agreements without informing the company’s board, legal department, or auditors: a $3 million agreement with Grant in 2022 and a $7.5 million agreement with an independent contractor in 2019. The undisclosed $10.5 million in payments caused material misstatements in WWE’s financial filings, overstating net income by roughly 8% in 2018 and 1.7% in 2021.¹⁴

McMahon agreed to pay a $400,000 civil penalty and reimburse WWE approximately $1.33 million under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, for a total of roughly $1.73 million. He neither admitted nor denied the SEC’s findings.¹⁵ Grant’s legal team later cited those findings in the amended complaint, arguing that the documented financial concealment supported their contention that the NDA was part of a broader scheme and should not be enforced.¹⁶

Major Turns in the Case

The Amended Complaint

On January 31, 2025, Grant’s attorneys filed a 94-page amended complaint that named Brock Lesnar and identified the senior WWE executives previously referenced only by title.¹⁷ McMahon and WWE opposed the amendment as untimely and made in bad faith. In May 2025, U.S. District Judge Sarah F. Russell granted Grant’s motion to amend.¹⁶

Laurinaitis Settlement

Three weeks later, on May 28, 2025, Laurinaitis reached a confidential settlement with Grant and was dismissed from the case with prejudice. As part of the agreement, he committed to cooperating and providing evidence in Grant’s ongoing case against McMahon and WWE.¹⁸ McMahon’s attorney responded that the settlement did not alter the facts of the case.¹⁹

The Move to Arbitration

On June 12, 2026, Judge Russell granted a joint motion from Grant, McMahon, and WWE to move the litigation out of public court and into confidential arbitration.²⁰ The shift was significant because Grant had fought the defendants’ attempts to compel arbitration for more than two years. Reporting described the parties as having been in “active discussions regarding a potential agreement to arbitrate the dispute in confidential arbitration.”²¹ The judge ordered a joint status report by July 2026 and scheduled a hearing for August if the parties could not agree on arbitration terms.

Because arbitration is private, the public is unlikely to learn the specifics of any eventual ruling or settlement.¹

A Related Defamation Suit

In May 2025, Dr. Carlon Colker, a Greenwich, Connecticut physician who had treated Grant during her time at WWE, filed a defamation lawsuit against Grant’s attorney Ann Callis and the Holland Law Firm. Colker alleges Callis made false public statements about his medical practices, including claims that he administered “unknown substances” and “mystery pills” to Grant. Grant’s filings had alleged McMahon arranged for her to see Colker between late 2019 and early 2022. In March 2026, Judge Russell denied a motion to dismiss Colker’s complaint, ruling he is not a public figure and does not need to prove “actual malice” to proceed. That suit is separate from Grant’s case against McMahon and remains ongoing.²²

Grant’s Advocacy and the Connecticut NDA Bill

In February 2026, Grant spoke publicly for the first time since filing her lawsuit, addressing lawmakers at the Connecticut Capitol about the coercive use of NDAs and safety concerns in professional wrestling. She described severe mental health struggles she experienced after being identified in a 2022 Wall Street Journal report about the NDA, including suicidal ideation and prolonged isolation.²³

The following month, Grant and her attorney Erica Nolan testified before the Connecticut Labor and Public Employees Committee in support of Senate Bill 355, a measure that would limit the use of NDAs in cases of workplace harassment and discrimination. Nolan told lawmakers that “intimidation does not have to be loud or obvious — it can be as simple as a letter from a lawyer reminding a victim of what they signed.” Grant also disclosed that she had filed a police report after experiencing what she described as online intimidation tactics threatening her safety.²⁴²⁵

1
Pro Wrestling.net. Judge Approves Moving the Janel Grant Lawsuit to Private Arbitration
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Wall Street Journal. Grant v. World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., Complaint
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Yahoo Sports. Janel Grant’s Representation Calls Brock Lesnar’s Return to WWE Attempt to Sweep Misconduct Under the Rug
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SI FanNation. Janel Grant Alleges WWE President Nick Khan Enabled Vince McMahon Behavior
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Front Office Sports. WWE Nick Khan Brad Blum Vince McMahon Sex Trafficking Suit
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The 19th. WWE Vince McMahon Janel Grant Lawsuit
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Sportico. Vince McMahon WWE Arbitration Defense Janel Grant
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ABC News. Vince McMahon Resigns TKO Group Sexual Misconduct Allegations
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Wrestlenomics. Vince McMahon’s Legal Team Calls Janel Grant’s Amended Complaint Bad Faith in New Filing
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NBC News. Former WWE Employee Suing Vince McMahon Agrees to Pause Case Pending Federal Investigation
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ABC News. Vince McMahon Accuser Agrees to Pause Lawsuit Justice Department’s Investigation
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New York Post. Criminal Probe Into WWE Boss Vince McMahon Dropped
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CNN. Federal Prosecutors Drop Criminal Probe Vince McMahon
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CNBC. Former WWE Boss Vince McMahon Resolves SEC Charges Over Undisclosed Settlements
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SEC. In the Matter of Vincent Kennedy McMahon, Administrative Proceeding File No. 3-22391
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HSS Law. Law360 Reports on Key Win to Janel Grant in WWE Lawsuit
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Wrestlenomics. Amended Complaint Filed by Janel Grant Against WWE Vince McMahon
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NBC News. Vince McMahon Sex Trafficking Case Co-Defendant John Laurinaitis Agrees to Settle
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Yahoo News. Vince McMahon Lawyer Issues Statement
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Post Wrestling. Janel Grant Vince McMahon and WWE Jointly Ask Court to Move Sex Trafficking Lawsuit Out of Public and Into Arbitration
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Yahoo Sports. Janel Grant Vince McMahon WWE Lawsuit Update
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Greenwich Time. Greenwich Doctor Defamation Suit Vince McMahon
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PW Torch. Janel Grant Who Is Suing Vince McMahon Speaks Publicly Detailing Impact of NDA and Ongoing Safety Concerns in Pro Wrestling
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Post Wrestling. Janel Grant and Her Counsel Speak on Behalf of Bill to Limit Usage of NDAs in Connecticut
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CT Mirror. Connecticut Should Act to Limit NDAs That Silence Victims