WWE is facing another lawsuit regarding Vince McMahon's return to the company.
An article in
Bloomberg on Wednesday revealed that a fourth lawsuit concerning the 77-year-old's return has been filed. Investor Dennis Palkon is seeking to obtain documents relating to WWE's internal investigation into allegations McMahon “raped and sexually assaulted employees and contractors over the course of decades,” and paid $15 million in "hush-money" to cover it up.
“There are serious questions about how Vince McMahon obtained and delivered those funds to his victims,” the complaint reads.
The suit also alleges that McMahon showed “a flagrant disregard for basic corporate governance norms” when he re-appointed himself to the board on January 6, 2023.
"Vince McMahon removed three independent directors and re-appointed himself, as well as two of his longtime cronies,” the suit continues. “The apparent misconduct here is both myriad and extremely serious.”
The suit continues to state that the “plaintiff intends to achieve what the board wanted to, but could not in light of Vince McMahon’s thuggery,” by initiating proceedings “to bar Vince McMahon from ever serving on the WWE board again.”
Our own Dave Meltzer addressed the situation during the latest edition of
Wrestling Observer Radio.
Meltzer said:
He's attempting to file suit to essentially bar Vince McMahon from being on the Board of Directors ever again.
He's trying to get all the documentation of the investigation and he's gotten some documentation and he said that the documentation shows that Vince is a bad, bad boy, actually, a lot worse.
He's trying to get the complete investigation report that the Board of Directors did and this was a report that the Board of Directors when they did the report thought that Vince should not be brought back because of what they found out.
Meltzer also addressed two lawsuits alleging McMahon violated legal technicalities when he re-wrote the company's bylaws and threatened to not approve any new media rights deal if he was not brought back. While McMahon has since repealed the changes to the bylaws, plaintiffs are seeking a mootness fee for forcing his hand.
The first two [lawsuits] are about to be closed down because they were lawsuits basically about Vince changing the bylaws and giving him more power, basically controlling the Board of Directors. When Vince erased those changes to the bylaws, those lawsuits, kind of, have to go away, although they are still seeking settlements because they are claiming that they are the reason he did that.
A third lawsuit was filed by a shareholder alleging McMahon breached his fiduciary duties by paying to cover up allegations against him.
The law firm Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman also released a
statement on Tuesday announcing they have launched an investigation into “whether WWE has violated federal securities laws."
