WWE, Vince McMahon, Linda McMahon sued over Ring Boy Sexual Abuse Scandal

[Comrade Khan]

gotta love the american justice system

 

[Barry Poppins]

I'm reminded of the line in the finale of Metal Gear Solid 2 regarding society's reason for sucking:

"The rights of criminals are given more respect than the privacy of victims."

 

[Chris]

 

[Chris]

Linda McMahon responds to WWE ring boy lawsuit with motion to dismiss

In a motion filed Monday, Linda McMahon's attorneys argued the ring boy lawsuit should be dismissed because she has no significant connection to Maryland.

www.postwrestling.com

In a new motion filed Monday, Linda McMahon’s attorneys argued the ring boy lawsuit should be dismissed because she has no significant connection to Maryland, where the lawsuit is filed.

The lawsuit, brought by five former WWF ring boys, is filed in Maryland, where the state’s Child Victims Act of 2023 has removed any time limits within which victims of child sexual abuse have to file civil lawsuits against the people or organizations they say were responsible or negligent. Most other states have statutes of limitations on such claims. A ruling from Maryland’s Supreme Court in February upheld the law’s removal of such time limits.

McMahon, who is currently serving as the U.S. Secretary of Education, is a defendant in the case along with WWE, its parent company, TKO, and her husband, Vince McMahon. Linda McMahon left her role with WWE in 2009.

The former ring boys allege former WWF ring announcer Mel Phillips, who died in 2012, sexually abused them throughout the 1980s. The McMahons were the lead executives of the WWF throughout the decade. With Phillips deceased, the ring boys seek to hold the McMahons and the company they founded accountable for what they allege was negligence that allowed Phillips to abuse them.

“What stands out from the Complaint, however,” Linda McMahon’s attorneys state, “is that it lacks: any basis for personal jurisdiction over Defendants in Maryland, and any plausible claim for relief.”

McMahon’s lawyers make the argument that she has no sufficient connection to Maryland for the lawsuit to be rightly litigated in U.S. District Court in the state. If her argument is successful, it could severely limit the plaintiffs’ ability to bring claims against the defendants elsewhere, due to statutes of limitations in other jurisdictions.

In a written declaration signed by McMahon, she asserts that she has recently learned the actual identities of the plaintiffs and that she has never met or communicated with them to the best of her knowledge and memory.

Last week, Judge James K. Bredar, who’s overseeing the case, approved an order allowing the defendants to know the names, birth dates, and current residential addresses of the five anonymized ring boys. It’s not uncommon for such decisions to be made in cases brought by claimants who are allowed to use pseudonyms. The order doesn’t allow the public to know their identities, and it doesn’t allow the defendants to disclose their identities to anyone beyond the attorneys and the individual defendants themselves.

Although the ring boy scandal has been covered in media since the early 1990s, McMahon says she didn’t have prior knowledge of these allegations.

“Until this lawsuit, I was unaware of their allegations against me or anyone else named in the complaint,” McMahon wrote.

McMahon also distanced herself from responsibility for Phillips’ alleged acts of abuse.

“I never personally supervised Phillips while he was employed by WWE, nor did I direct his activities,” she stated. “Phillips never acted as my agent. If Phillips traveled to Maryland and committed acts of sexual abuse while in Maryland, it was certainly not at my direction nor with my knowledge.”

She added: “I never personally employed any ‘Ring Boys,’ as that term is defined in the Complaint.”

The lawsuit, filed in October last year, describes “Ring Boys,” as underage boys hired by Phillips, “to assist the ring crew with errands and other tasks in preparation for WWE’s wrestling shows.”

In support of her argument that the court shouldn’t have jurisdiction over her, McMahon points out that she does not reside in or own property in Maryland. She is a resident of Connecticut and owns a condominium in Washington, D.C. McMahon states she only has loose connections to Maryland.

McMahon’s declaration asserts that she may have briefly held a license in Maryland in 2004 related to conducting wrestling events and that she rented an apartment in the state from 1970 to 1972. However, she argues that without any other ties, her limited connection to the state doesn’t suffice for the case to continue in Maryland, where the plaintiffs’ legal claims may be most viable.

Also pertaining to jurisdiction, McMahon’s lawyers raise that John Does 2 and 3 didn’t describe a specific instance of alleged abuse that happened in Maryland. McMahon seems to question whether the incidents of abuse alleged by Does 2 and 3, if they occurred, actually took place in the state.

Linda McMahon is being represented by Laura Brevetti, who formerly served as General Counsel for WWE, as well as local counsel from the Zuckerman Spaeder firm.

Vince McMahon and WWE are each represented by separate attorneys in the case. Jessica T. Rosenberg from Akin Gump is working with Vince McMahon, as well as lawyers from Kramon & Graham in Maryland. Rosenberg is also representing McMahon in his defense against sex trafficking allegations from former WWE employee Janel Grant.

Daniel Toal of the Paul Weiss law firm is representing WWE and TKO. He’s also defending the company in the Grant case.

Attorneys from DiCello Levitt, including Greg Gutzler, represent the five plaintiffs.

Requests for comment for this report, addressed to attorneys for the plaintiffs and Linda McMahon, were not immediately returned.

 

[Tommy Shelby]

Fuck Linda .

 

[Chris]

Three more ring boys join lawsuit against WWE & McMahons

An amended lawsuit filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland expanded on claims of negligence against WWE, Vince McMahon, and Linda McMahon.

www.postwrestling.com

Note: This article contains graphic descriptions of child sexual abuse. Allegations described in this article are made by the plaintiffs and have not been proven in court.

An amended lawsuit filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland expanded on claims of negligence against WWE, Vince McMahon, and Linda McMahon. The suit, which started last October, is brought by former “ring boys” who are anonymized in the case and allege the defendants knowingly allowed and failed to report sexual abuse, the plaintiffs say, that was committed by former ring announcer Mel Phillips and former executive Pat Patterson.

Each of the defendants responded in court to the allegations earlier this month, aiming to have the case dismissed for lack of jurisdiction and failing to adequately allege that they had a duty of care to the plaintiffs. WWE also argued that the initial complaint didn’t establish that the current version of the company was liable for the incidents of its predecessor entity.

The new filing adds detailed allegations from three additional plaintiffs, identified as John Does 6, 7, and 8. The updated complaint brings new allegations of child sexual abuse against Phillips and a new allegation of child sexual abuse against Patterson. Additionally, the plaintiffs’ attorneys raise issues that anticipate the legal defenses of the defendants relating to jurisdiction, duty of care, and corporate liability.

John Doe 6, a Mississippi resident, alleges that he met Phillips around 1988, when he was 11 or 12 years old. After a WWF house show on July 14, 1989, he was told he needed to stay in Patterson’s hotel room while other underage ring boys stayed in Phillips’ room. In Patterson’s room, Doe 6 alleges he was given alcohol, Patterson played pornography on the television, and forced Doe 6 to give Patterson oral sex and vice versa.

Patterson died in 2020. Phillips died in 2012.

In an effort to support their assertion that the McMahons had knowledge or should have had knowledge of the abuse, the ring boys outline a number of occasions when they interacted with or were in the presence of Vince and Linda McMahon.

Requests for comment sent by POST Wrestling to each of the defendants’ representatives were not immediately returned.

In a separate alleged incident, in a WWF dressing room in Maine, Doe 6 claims he was grabbed in the crotch by wrestler Koko B. Ware with many other witnesses present, including Phillips, Patterson, ring crew member and later ring announcer Tony Chimel, and referee Danny Davis.

“In front of everyone else in the room, Koko B. Ware told John Doe 6 to get against wall [sic], pushed John Doe 6’s head against wall [sic], patted him down, and then grabbed John Doe 6’s crotch.”

A message sent by POST to a phone number believed to belong to Ware, whose real name is James Ware, requesting a comment for this report, was not immediately responded to.

The updated lawsuit states that most others in the room laughed, except Chimel, who “said something like, ‘don’t do that, let him go.'” Chimel later told Doe 6 that he shouldn’t be on the ring crew and that he should run away, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit identifies several potential witnesses, including former Community Relations Director Sue Aitchison, who worked for the company for decades until her departure last year. According to the complaint, John Doe 6 alleges that during another WWF event, he was wrestling in the ring when Shane McMahon, then also a teenager, accidentally suffered an arm injury. The incident was allegedly witnessed by Aitchison, eventual WWE referee Mike Chioda, and Chimel.

The lawsuit does not clearly explain the point, but it’s possible the incident is cited to support the claim that Vince and Linda McMahon were aware that underage boys were working on the ring crew, as their own son was injured while informally wrestling with a ring boy.

John Doe 6 alleges he traveled with Phillips to approximately 10 WWE events between 1988 and 1992, including WrestleMania V in Atlantic City on April 2, 1989. The amended complaint includes photographs that purportedly show Doe 6 in the audience during the event’s main event between Hulk Hogan and “Macho Man” Randy Savage. The faces of Doe 6 and other plaintiffs are redacted in the images to protect their identities.

An earlier court order in the case allows the defendants to know the identities of all plaintiffs, including any added through amended filings, to ensure they can adequately defend themselves. However, the order prohibits public disclosure of the plaintiffs’ identities and bars the defendants from sharing that information with others.

Doe 6 also alleges Phillips sexually abused him after a July 21, 1992, WWF event in Portland, Maine.

It’s notable that this date is after Phillips’ reported exit from the WWF around March 1992. We’ve contacted the plaintiffs’ law firm to request clarification about this detail and will update if they respond.

Another new plaintiff, identified as John Doe 7, states he was around 14 or 15 years old when he met Mel Phillips in Philadelphia in 1974, the earliest of the meetings with Phillips alleged by the plaintiffs in this lawsuit.

Doe 7 alleges he was sexually abused by Phillips in the course of working as a ring boy at WWF events, including at hotel rooms in Baltimore, Maryland, where he was given alcohol by Phillips. The lawsuit states in detail how Doe 7 was allegedly sexually abused by Phillips, which includes allegations of forced oral sex.

Alleging that at least a portion of the abuse happened in Maryland is key to the plaintiffs’ case. In most other jurisdictions, statutes of limitations would make these allegations difficult or impossible to pursue. Maryland established a new law in recent years, the Child Victims Act of 2023, which removed all time limits for victims of child sex abuse, allowing them to pursue civil claims against perpetrators or those allegedly liable for the abuse. The state Supreme Court upheld the law earlier this year, allowing this and other cases to move forward.

Each of the five initial plaintiffs alleged they were sexually abused by Phillips when they were minors.

The lawsuit acknowledges that Vince McMahon was a commentator at the time Doe 7 was allegedly abused. Vincent J. McMahon was still in charge of the wrestling company at the time. Nonetheless, it’s alleged that the younger McMahon still had leadership responsibilities.

The younger Vince McMahon “acted and was treated by others as the de facto WWE boss, especially when on-site for WWE shows,” the plaintiffs’ attorney stated.

Doe 7 also claims he was abused by Phillips away from WWF events, at the Philadelphia Police Athletic League, and a church in West Philadelphia. Phillips sometimes recorded the abuse with a video camera, according to the filing.

The third new plaintiff, John Doe 8, claims he met Phillips when he was around 15 years old in 1982 in Baltimore while working concessions at the Baltimore Civic Center.

Doe 8, who is now a citizen of Nevada, claims Phillips asked him to come to a WWF show on or around March 13, 1982. At that event, Doe 8 and another ring boy were allegedly given marijuana.

Before another WWF event in Baltimore on April 10, 1982, Doe 8 alleges Phillips sexually abused him and another underage ring boy at a hotel. In Phillips’ room, Doe 8 alleges the ring announcer told the boys to get undressed. While wearing only underwear, Phillips allegedly put the boys’ “feet on his penis to compare sizes. Phillips was aroused.” The boys were also allegedly offered cocaine and pills by Phillips.

Recent comments from former ring boy Gerard Millette have also been added to the updated complaint. Millette defends Phillips and doesn’t believe he abused the plaintiffs. However, the plaintiffs’ attorneys cite his statements to purportedly support their allegations. Millette’s comments, noting that there was wide knowledge of Phillips’ foot fetish and that he was often around kids, are mentioned.

The new plaintiff alleges he was paid in cash for working at the event. In addition to adding new plaintiffs, the updated filing states that each plaintiff received some form of compensation for their services, whether from cash payments, food, or lodging provided by the WWF.

This detail is another important element to the plaintiffs’ case. By establishing that the ring boys were compensated, even informally, the complaint attempts to show that the company and its executives had a duty of care owed to them. Compensation, combined with allegations of supervision and travel arrangements, is cited as evidence that the underage ring crew members weren’t just volunteers or independent bystanders, but individuals the WWF was responsible for.

 

[Barry Poppins]

Disgusting

 

[Samoa Looch]

The lawsuit identifies several potential witnesses, including former Community Relations Director Sue Aitchison, who worked for the company for decades until her departure last year. According to the complaint, John Doe 6 alleges that during another WWF event, he was wrestling in the ring when Shane McMahon, then also a teenager, accidentally suffered an arm injury. The incident was allegedly witnessed by Aitchison, eventual WWE referee Mike Chioda, and Chimel.

The lawsuit does not clearly explain the point, but it’s possible the incident is cited to support the claim that Vince and Linda McMahon were aware that underage boys were working on the ring crew, as their own son was injured while informally wrestling with a ring boy.

Is that really a point Vince & Linda deny? Them knowing about underage boys working on the ring crew? Because fuck that... with how controlling and hands on especially Vince always was with the product, there is now fuckin' way that at least he didn't knew.