Judge pauses sexual abuse lawsuit against Trump’s education secretary pick
A federal judge in Maryland has paused a lawsuit against Linda McMahon, the former World Wrestling Entertainment executive whom President-elect Donald Trump chose for education secretary, while another court weighs a recent state law involving such cases.
The lawsuit claims that McMahon and her husband, Vince McMahon — who together led WWE starting in the early 1980s — had failed to act on credible allegations that an employee of the organization had sexually abused “ring boys,” who ran errands and assisted with various tasks before wrestling matches. The McMahons have firmly denied the allegations.
Judge James K. Bredar of the U.S. District Court in Maryland granted on Tuesday the defendants’ request to stay the case until the Maryland Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of a state law enacted in 2023. That measure erased the statute of limitations for certain lawsuits related to child sexual abuse, allowing for more plaintiffs to file such cases. The judge said that the stay was warranted because the state Supreme Court’s decision could determine the outcome of this lawsuit.
Five former ring boys sued in late October, just weeks before Linda McMahon’s selection as education secretary was announced, claiming they had faced abuse in the 1980s from Melvin Phillips Jr., a former ringside announcer and ring crew chief, who died in 2012. The plaintiffs, who were not named, had met Phillips when they were 13 to 15 years old, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed against the McMahons, WWE and its parent company, TKO Group Holdings, says the defendants had a duty to protect the boys and “yet failed to prevent the abuse by taking even the most reasonable measures.”
In a statement to CNN, McMahon’s lawyer, Laura Brevetti, dismissed the claims as baseless, saying the lawsuit “is filled with scurrilous lies, exaggerations and misrepresentations regarding Linda McMahon.”
Brevetti and other lawyers, including ones representing the plaintiffs, did not respond to requests for comment on this article.
McMahon worked as WWE’s president and CEO until 2009, when she stepped down to start an unsuccessful campaign for a U.S. Senate seat in Connecticut. During her tenure, she helped transform WWE into a cultural force. But the company was also dogged by allegations of sexual harassment and abuse, including ones involving underage boys.
A major donor and close ally of Trump, McMahon later led the Small Business Administration for much of the first Trump presidency.
Her selection to head the Education Department, which Trump has repeatedly called to dismantle, has raised alarm bells among some educators and Democrats. They say her resume, which includes less education experience than those of previous secretaries, and her support for certain policies, such as school choice, are worrisome. Her supporters, on the other hand, say that parents need more options in education and that she would fight for them.
The accusations in the WWE lawsuit have prompted more concern about whether she would be equipped as education secretary to enforce laws like Title IX, the federal law that protects students from sex discrimination and harassment.
“Education is about providing opportunity and protecting children,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. “Regardless of this case’s legal status, the secretary-designee will have to address these serious allegations in her confirmation hearings.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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