The new lawsuit seeks WWE internal files on Vince McMahon’s hush money scandal.
Vince’s McMahon abruptly resigned from WWE last summer during an internal investigation into alleged hush money payments. This led to the company restating past financial results in order to account for “certain unrecorded expenses” made by McMahon.
Less than six month later, Vince decided he wanted his power back, so he used his leverage as the controlling shareholder to force his way back onto the Board of Directors despite the Board originally voting against his return. Vince essentially used his power to remove the Board members who weren’t playing ball, and now he is back as the Executive Chairman of WWE.
Three investor lawsuits were filed last month related to Vince’s controversial return to WWE, and now Bloomberg is reporting details on a fourth such lawsuit.
Dennis Palkon is a WWE shareholder who is suing the company with the goal of having McMahon permanently removed from the Board of Directors. In essence, this lawsuit describes McMahon as a thug who pulled off a shady coup on the WWE Board of Directors; the plaintiff is trying to get WWE to hand over the complete internal investigation report, which was the basis for the Board originally deciding that Vince’s return was a very bad idea.
Here’s more on it from Bloomberg:
The new complaint is the first of the suits to seek documents from WWE under a state law giving corporate investors broad inspection rights. Records cases, which often reflect an attempt to drum up fiduciary breach allegations, are typically brought before substantive cases alleging outright wrongdoing.
But the suit echoes the most serious claims against McMahon, saying he “appears to have leveraged his position to prey on his subordinates to appease his sexual desires.” He then exploited his control over the company to override the board’s judgment that he was unfit to lead it, according to the complaint.
If the disclosure of records does lead to fiduciary breach claims, “plaintiff intends to achieve what the board wanted to, but could not in light of Vince McMahon’s thuggery,” by initiating proceedings “to bar Vince McMahon from ever serving on the WWE board again,” the suit says.
What do you make of this one, Cagesiders?
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