Lawsuit Over Vince McMahon’s Alleged History Of Cover-Ups Gets A Status Update

Vince McMahon was involved in a hush money scandal that led to his retirement from the company. Of course, he did return to take over once again, but a lawsuit was still filed in the process.

WWE shareholders Carole Casale and Chrystal Lavalle are “suing over McMahon’s alleged history of paying to cover up sexual harassment accusations.” Now WWE’s parent company has now provided an update on this situation.

TKO Group Holdings issued an SEC filing regarding a legal matter approved by the Delaware Court of Chancery on September 28th, 2023. The filing provides an update on a stockholder derivative action initiated by Carole Casale and Chrystal Lavalle on January 13th, 2023, on behalf of WWE against Vincent McMahon. Another similar action was filed on March 6th, 2023, by Dennis Palkon, involving additional defendants who allegedly aided and abetted McMahon.

On March 20th, 2023, WWE and Vince McMahon entered into a reimbursement agreement. The agreement outlined that McMahon would reimburse WWE approximately $17.4 million for expenses incurred through January 31st, 2023, related to investigations, financial statement revisions, and other matters. McMahon would also consider additional expenses incurred after January 31st, 2023. In exchange, WWE released McMahon from cost recovery claims, and McMahon released WWE from investigation-related matters.

On the same date, Vince McMahon and WWE responded to the Casale action, asserting that the claims were partly or wholly moot due to the reimbursement agreement, which covered various issues. Then on March 23rd, 2023, McMahon made the $17.4 million payment to follow up on the agreement.

On May 3rd, 2023, it was noted in the SEC filing that the Delaware Court of Chancery, following a stipulation by the parties, consolidated the Casale and Palkon Actions into one case, dismissing it with prejudice concerning the named plaintiffs due to mootness. The court retained jurisdiction solely for the purpose of handling attorneys’ fees and expenses applications.

Instead of seeking attorneys’ fees and expenses, Vince McMahon reached a $2.0 million settlement with plaintiffs’ counsel through negotiations. The court did not review or judge the payment or its reasonableness.

Vince McMahon has been through a lot of lawsuits over the years, and this may not be the last one. We will keep a close eye on the Chairman of the Board, because there is a lot going on in his personal dealings right now.

Vince McMahon is a brilliant businessman, but is he a role model? Sound off in the comments to let us know what you think!