A Delaware judge has ordered WWE executives to show over documents related to federal investigations into Vince McMahon’s conduct, in the newest ruling in the continuing WWE Shareholder lawsuit on Friday.
Judge James Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery ruled that WWE executives and TKO must produce documents and correspondence that they initially provided to the DOJ and SEC during their investigations.
It’s argued by the plaintiffs that the federal investigations into McMahon are crucial to understanding the rationale behind WWE’s merger with UFC under Endeavor; their case lies on the idea that McMahon brokered the merger deal for his own gain, versus his fiduciary responsibility to shareholders. Specifically, plaintiffs argue that McMahon predetermined the take care of Endeavor to be able to secure his continued role with the corporate in light of his sexual misconduct allegations. For his part, McMahon has denied all allegations of misconduct.
With the ruling, Laster also rejected defendants’ arguments that the materials requested were irrelevant, already produced, or requested too late. McMahon is being represented by separate counsel from the WWE defendants, including Nick Khan, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, and former executives George Barrios and Michelle Wilson.
“The relevance of the investigations to McMahon’s motivations is apparent,” Laster wrote (h/t POST Wrestling’s Brandon Thurston). “The requests are neither disproportionate nor overly burdensome. Control over documents encompasses documents within the possession, custody, or control of agents. If agents made among the communications, or if agents currently possess or control access to them, then the defendants must collect and produce those communications, along with the communications they themselves possess.”