According to a report from Brandon Thurston at POST Wrestling, a new motion was filed Monday by Linda McMahon’s attorneys arguing the ring boy lawsuit should be dismissed because she has no significant connection to Maryland, where the lawsuit was filed.
Thurston notes that McMahon asserts in a written and signed declaration, she asserts she recently learned the actual identities of the ring boys and has never met or communicated with them to the best of her knowledge and memory.
“Until this lawsuit, I was unaware of their allegations against me or anyone else named in the complaint…I never personally supervised Phillips while he was employed by WWE, nor did I direct his activities,” she stated. “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…I never personally employed any ‘Ring Boys,’ as that term is defined in the complaint,” McMahon wrote.
McMahon’s attorney note – “What stands out from the Complaint, however, is that it lacks any basis for personal jurisdiction over Defendants in Maryland, and any plausible claim for relief.”
Thurston adds that McMahon’s declaration also asserts she may have briefly held a license in the state of Maryland in 2004 related to conducting wrestling events and had also rented an apartment in the state from 1970 to 1972. It was also said in the report McMahon argues that without any other ties, her limited connection to Maryland does not suffice for the case to continue in the state, where the Ring Boys legal claims may be most viable. Furthermore, it was noted that McMahon’s lawyers make the argument she has no connection to Maryland for the lawsuit to be rightly litigated in U.S. District Court in the state. It was added that if her argument is successful, it could severely limit the Ring Boys ability to bring their claims against the McMahons and WWE elsewhere due to the statutes of limitations in other jurisdictions.
Also pertaining to jurisdiction, Thurston further notes in the report that McMahon’s lawyers raise that John Does 2 and 3 failed to describe a specific instance of alleged abuse that took place in the state of Maryland. McMahon also seems to question if the incidents of abuse occurred and actually took place in the state.
It is also said that in support of McMahon’s argument the court should not have jurisdiction over her. She also states in her argument that she does not live in or own any property in Maryland, is a resident of Connecticut, owns a condominium in Washington, D.C. only has loose connections to Maryland.
The lawsuit which was filed by five former WWF ring boys in Maryland, where the state’s Child Victims Act of 2023 has removed any time limits within which victims of child sexual abuse have to file civil lawsuits against the people or organizations they say that were responsible or negligent. A ruling from Maryland’s Supreme Court in February upheld the law’s removal of such time limits.
The former ring boys allege that then WWF ring announcer Mel Phillips, who passed away in 2012, sexually abused them throughout the 1980s. It is said that with Phillips deceased, the ring boys now seek to hold Vince and Linda McMahon and WWE accountable for what they allege as negligence which allowed Phillips to abuse them. The lawsuit, which was filed in October 2024 describes the duties for the ring boys as follows: “to assist the ring crew with errands and other tasks in preparation for WWE’s wrestling shows.”
McMahon is currently serving as the U.S. Secretary of Education. She left her role in WWE back in is a defendant in the case along with WWE, its parent company, TKO, and her husband, Vince McMahon. Linda McMahon left her role with WWE back in 2009.
Linda McMahon’s representation is Laura Brevetti, former General Counsel for WWE, as well as local counsel from the Zuckerman Spaeder firm.
Vince McMahon and WWE are each represented by separate legal counel. Jessica T. Rosenberg from Akin Gump for Vince, as well as lawyers from Kramon & Graham in Maryland. Daniel Toal of the Paul Weiss law firm is representing WWE and TKO. In addition, he is also defending the company in the Grant case.
Attorneys from DiCello Levitt, including Greg Gutzler, represent the five former Ring Boys.
Post Wrestling notes that requests for comment to their report, addressed to attorneys for the plaintiffs and Linda McMahon, were not immediately returned.