This article was updated on Wednesday, August 7, 2024, with a new comment from Vince McMahon’s attorney, Jessica Taub Rosenberg.
Judge Jeffrey Meyer ruled on Tuesday to deny Vince McMahon’s motion to enforce the federal court’s stay order against Janel Grant.
Last month, Grant filed a petition in Connecticut state court to obtain medical records from Dr. Carlon Colker and his clinic, Peak Wellness.
Neither Colker nor his clinic are defendants in the sex trafficking lawsuit that Grant, a former WWE employee, filed against McMahon, WWE, and John Laurinaitis. Grant’s case against those parties was filed in federal court in January.
McMahon’s attorneys responded to Grant’s petition against Colker, arguing that Grant’s legal action in Connecticut state Superior Court was a violation of the six-month stay on the federal lawsuit, which was put on hold in connection with an ongoing federal investigation involving U.S. Attorneys from the Southern District of New York.
Grant alleges that she was directed by McMahon to get treatment at Peak Wellness, a clinic in Greenwich, Conn. She claimed in her state filing that she was given pills and I.V. infusions and that Colker refused to disclose the substance of those treatments to her. She said that the medical records so far provided to her were inconsistent and inaccurate.
McMahon had asked the judge to prevent Grant from using any materials obtained as a result of the petition and that she be subject to contempt.
Meyer, who oversees the federal lawsuit, ruled that the stay in the federal case doesn’t apply to Grant’s proceedings in state court.
“Federal district courts do not ordinarily regulate or sit in review of proceedings in state courts, and the Court’s stay order did not purport to extend to any state court proceedings,” Meyer wrote, in text that’s viewable on the public docket for the case. “If there is any objection to state court proceedings, relief should be should [sic] in state court rather than in this Court. Accordingly, the Court DENIES defendant McMahon’s motion to enforce the Court’s stay order for failure to show that there has been a violation of the Court’s stay order.”
We received a statement from McMahon’s attorney, Jessica Taub Rosenberg, on Wednesday.
“Ms. Grant’s attempt to seek discovery in state court despite a stay in federal court exemplifies her consistently deceitful behavior and lack of integrity;” Rosenberg said, “we will, per the Federal Court’s order, continue to pursue a court order to stop her.”
The federal lawsuit was put on hold by the judge, at the request of prosecutors and with the consent of the parties, in June, due to the federal investigation.
A federal investigation into allegations against McMahon of sex trafficking and sexual assault is being conducted by authorities from the Southern District of New York, according to a report in February from The Wall Street Journal, which raises the possibility of a criminal indictment for McMahon, though no charges have been filed.
On Monday, new sealed filings appeared on the docket, separately, from Grant and U.S. Attorney Sarah Mortazavi, which aren’t publicly viewable.
We contacted Grant’s representatives and a representative for the Southern District of New York about those filings but have yet to hear back.
Meyer approved the sealing of those filings on Tuesday as well.
Brandon Thurston has written about wrestling business since 2015. He operates and owns Wrestlenomics.