The Janel Grant lawsuit against Vince McMahon and WWE just hit a major pause button, but this thing is far from over.
Attorneys for Grant, McMahon, and WWE now have 20 days to see if they can work out a settlement through private arbitration. That means the previously scheduled June 16 hearing in Connecticut District Court is off the calendar for now.
This is not the same arbitration WWE and McMahon had been fighting for in court. That earlier arbitration fight centered around the non-disclosure agreement Grant signed after her time with WWE ended. WWE and McMahon argued that Grant should be forced into arbitration under that agreement, with an arbitrator selected under the NDA’s terms.
Grant’s side pushed back hard on that, arguing that federal laws like the Speak Out Act and the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act should block that arbitration clause from being enforced in this case.
Now, both sides have agreed to a separate confidential arbitration process. That means the rules and arbitrator have been agreed upon by both Grant’s side and the defense. Judge Sarah F. Russell canceled the June 16 motion hearing and gave the parties three weeks to report back to the court.
So what happens next? For the next 20 days, both sides will try to reach a deal behind closed doors. If they settle, the case could end before another major courtroom battle plays out. If they do not settle, the lawsuit can pick back up where it left off.
That makes this a huge window for both sides. A ruling on the arbitration issue could have changed the leverage in a big way. Whoever lost that fight would have been in a weaker position moving forward. By entering this private process before that hearing, both sides get a chance to talk settlement while neither side has taken that hit yet.
There is also another reason this makes sense. The laws Grant’s team has cited are still fairly new, and any court ruling over whether they apply here would almost certainly trigger more legal fights and appeals. That could drag the case out much longer.
For Grant, this gives her a chance to reach a resolution without waiting through more delays. For McMahon and WWE, it gives them a chance to avoid more public filings, more hearings, and more legal uncertainty. The key date now is 20 days from the judge’s order. That is when both sides must file a status report and tell the court whether they reached an agreement.
If they do, one of the biggest lawsuits in wrestling could end quietly. If they do not, the fight over arbitration and the larger case against Vince McMahon and WWE will continue.
Do you think this case ends in a settlement, or will it return to court after the 20-day window?
