Janel Grant, a former World Wrestling Entertainment employee suing Vince McMahon and the company for sex trafficking and sex assault in federal district court, is asking for documents and communications regarding Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and Dr. Carlon Colker of Peak Wellness in a motion filed on Monday.
The request was part of a motion to compel discovery ahead of an arbitration hearing. The defendants, Vince McMahon and WWE, believe Grant should adhere to an arbitration clause in a non-disclosure agreement she signed after she left WWE as an employee instead of pursuing her case in court.
UPDATE: Representatives for Janel Grant gave a statement to SEScoops.
\”WWE and McMahon had the opportunity to voluntarily provide discovery and they refused. They claim the NDA and its arbitration clause are enforceable, but resist any attempts to investigate whether Ms. Grant was coerced into signing it—facts that go to the heart of its enforceability. They can’t have it both ways. Today we asked the Court to allow that discovery to proceed, Ms. Grant deserves to have the facts about her case.\”
Grant\’s legal team claimed the NDA violates federal law including the Speak Out Act and the Federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as well as recent federal court precedent.
Grant is suing for discovery in Connecticut court against Colker and Peak Wellness, where she was treated at the behest of McMahon while she was employed at WWE. According to Grant\’s amended complaint, filed earlier this year, Grant was told by Vince McMahon their relationship was discovered by Linda McMahon which led to Grant\’s firing by WWE. Communications between employees and defendants involving Colker and Linda McMahon were part of an exhibit of discovery requests as part of Monday\’s filing.
The discovery motion mentioned communications between Vince McMahon and his former counsel Jerry McDevitt were available as evidence due to the federal crime-fraud exception in attorney-client privilege.
Prior to the previous arbitration hearing in 2024, federal prosecutors asked Grant for a stay in her civil suit. They said discovery ahead of the arbitration hearing could interfere with their investigation of Vince McMahon. A six-month stay was placed on the case, which expired in December 2024.
Shareholders suing Vince McMahon and TKO in the Delaware Court of the Chancery have asked for access to discovery evidence in other cases involving the former WWE owner and president, stating his issues with the federal investigation and the Grant cause led him to take a cheaper bid in the sale of WWE two years ago to TKO.
Representatives for Vince McMahon say the federal investigation ended earlier this year. An appeals court decision earlier this year, which ruled McDevitt and McMahon should provide missing documents to federal investigators, suggested the case was possibly still ongoing.
Grant, Vince McMahon and WWE have until July 11 to file responses to the discovery motion.
