Janel Grant’s motion for discovery within the sex trafficking lawsuit against Vince McMahon and WWE has been denied by the judge in Connecticut District Court.
Grant had motioned for discovery to start in June last 12 months, with the argument being made that it might be used to point whether Grant had been coerced into the arbitration agreement she had entered into with McMahon and WWE.
The defendants, alternatively, contested that the evidence is irrelevant to the query, maintaining that the agreement compels arbitration at the beginning. As such, each defendant filed renewed motions to compel arbitration.
Judge Sarah F. Russell determined in an order on Friday that Grant has not met the burden of excellent cause to point out that discovery is warranted before responding to the defendants’ motions to compel arbitration.
Within the order, Russell writes that, “The court expresses no opinion as to the merits of those forthcoming arguments, or every other grounds that [Grant] may select to claim in opposition to Defendants’ Motions to Compel Arbitration.”
Grant may renew her discovery motion along with filing her response in opposition to the arbitration motions. And after reviewing that, the court will determine whether to allow the parties to take limited, reciprocal discovery.
The parties were directed to confer and file a joint notice proposing deadlines for Grant’s response to the motions, three mutually agreeable dates for an oral argument on the motions, and stating whether the parties seek referral of the case to a magistrate judge for purposes of a settlement conference.
That joint filing ought to be made on or before February 18, 2026.
It is vital to notice that nothing stipulated by Judge Russell thus far speaks to the facts of either Grant’s criticism or the defense of McMahon and WWE. The dispute at hand refers as to whether the case should proceed in civil court, as is desired by Grant, or proceed to non-public arbitration, as is desired by the defendants.