WWE & Vince McMahon file appeal to prevent discovery in Janel Grant lawsuit

Vince McMahon & WWE are looking to block Janel Grant’s team from discovery.

According to Post Wrestling, both defendants on Monday filed opposition to Grant’s attempt to obtain new information in the lawsuit, saying that the plaintiff has failed to meet the legal standard for pre-arbitration discovery and is also trying to seek unrelated documents relating to the question if Grant signed the NDA under duress.

“The Court should refuse to indulge Plaintiff’s [Grant’s] improper fishing expedition and deny the Motion in full,” McMahon’s team wrote in the filing.

In WWE’s filing, they wrote that Grant’s request for evidence was an attempt to bypass an earlier decision to hold off on broader discovery.

“Grant’s document requests are a transparent attempt to circumvent the Court’s stay order and initiate full merits discovery before the Court is able to decide Defendants’ motions to compel arbitration,” their legal team wrote.

“Grant has failed to present any allegations, let alone ‘reliable evidence’ that she did not intend to be bound by the arbitration provision or that the agreement to arbitrate was induced by fraud or duress,” they added.

In a filing last Monday, Grant’s team requested documents from both McMahon and WWE including emails between Vince and Linda McMahon relating to Grant and NDA, WWE’s board materials, drafts of the NDA, and communications between McMahon and Dr. Carlton Coker, who has since sued Grant’s attorney Ann Callis for defamation.