Linda McMahon’s lawyers, the United States Secretary of Education, have asked the court to throw out the lawsuit filed against her regarding the WWE Ring Boy case.
Brandon Thurston from Post Wrestling reported that McMahon’s lawyers filed this request because, in their words, McMahon has no ties to Maryland, which is where the lawsuit was filed. They’re arguing that the lawsuit was filed in the wrong place.
“What stands out from the Complaint, however,” McMahon’s attorneys stated, “is that it lacks: any basis for personal jurisdiction over Defendants in Maryland, and any plausible claim for relief.”McMahon also denied even knowing, nor communicating with the plaintiffs.
After the judge in the case, James K. Bredar, allowed the people being sued (Linda McMahon, Vince McMahon, WWE, and TKO) to find out the real names, birth dates, and current addresses of the men who were previously kept anonymous in the “ring boy” lawsuit, Linda’s lawyers argued that the case shouldn’t be happening in Maryland because she doesn’t live or do business there. Linda has also said she didn’t know anything about the claims being made in the lawsuit.
“Until this lawsuit, I was unaware of their allegations against me or anyone else named in the complaint,” McMahon stated in a written and signed declaration. “I never personally supervised Phillips while he was employed by WWE, nor did I direct his activities. 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.”
The lawsuit was filed in Maryland because a new law there, the Child Victims Act of 2023, lets people sue for child sexual abuse no matter how long ago it happened. The men who filed the lawsuit claim that Mel Phillips, a former ring announcer for the WWF, sexually abused them back in the 1980s. Since Phillips passed away in 2012, they’re now trying to hold Vince and Linda, as well as WWE and its parent company TKO, responsible, saying the companies were careless and allowed the abuse to happen.
“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,” Thurston wrote. “However, she argues that without any other ties, her limited connection to the state doesn’t suffice for the case to continue in the jurisdiction where the plaintiffs’ legal claims may be most viable.”
The lawsuit can be read in its entirety here.
