Vince McMahon, Oliver Luck settle XFL wrongful termination lawsuit

Vince McMahon and Oliver Luck aren’t headed to trial after all.

As was first reported by Sports Business Journal on Monday, McMahon and Luck have reached a settlement in Luck’s wrongful termination lawsuit. Luck, who was the commissioner of McMahon’s 2020 XFL revival, was seeking approximately $24 million in compensation in the lawsuit.

Financial terms of the settlement haven’t been disclosed.

“The parties reached an agreement to resolve this case on June 16, 2022,” Luck’s attorney Paul Dobrowski wrote in a filing last Friday. Dobrowski was seeking a judicial order to permanently seal records in the case.

Luck, whose contract as XFL commissioner had been personally guaranteed by McMahon, was fired just days before the XFL folded amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. McMahon claimed that he fired Luck due to “gross neglect of his job” during the pandemic, personal use of a league-assisted cellphone, and signing wide receiver Antonio Callaway despite Callaway having had legal issues. When McMahon announced the relaunch of the XFL in 2018, he stated that no players with criminal histories would be welcome in the league.

A judge had thrown out McMahon’s other claims, with the Callaway issue being the only one that would have been considered if the lawsuit went to trial.

McMahon filed a countersuit against Luck in January 2021.

A settlement conference between the two sides had taken place last Wednesday but only lasted nine minutes.

Last Friday, McMahon announced that he’s voluntarily stepping away from his WWE chairman and CEO positions until the WWE Board of Directors’ investigation into alleged misconduct committed by him is completed. The Wall Street Journal published a story last week revealing that McMahon was being investigated by the Board of Directors over a “secret $3 million hush pact” with a former WWE employee who he allegedly had an affair with.

Stephanie McMahon has been named WWE’s interim chairwoman and CEO. Vince McMahon is still running WWE creative during the investigation.