Counsel for Vince McMahon filed a four-page motion in federal district court in Connecticut on Thursday accusing Janel Grant of violating the stay in her civil suit against McMahon, World Wrestling Entertainment and John Laurinaitis.
On July 16, counsel for Grant filed a bill of discovery complaint against Peak Wellness and Dr. Carlon Colker in Connecticut. The complaint asked for medical records and other information regarding Grant when she was a patient at the clinic. The complaint accused Peak Wellness of refusing to provide Grant with electronic information, sending only paper copies of records that were incomplete.
The complaint said Peak Wellness denied Grant access to her records and had failed to provide discovery in her federal case twice during the spring. The filing claimed Grant visited the clinic under McMahon’s discretion over 60 times in a year and a half.
The Department of Justice asked the judge to stay the case in June because it could interfere with a federal grand jury investigation of McMahon that’s ongoing in the Southern District of New York.
Both McMahon and Grant’s counsel agreed to the stay, which expires in December.
“Today’s motion is in response to Ms. Grant’s flagrant violation of the federal stay order,” Jesica Taub Rosenberg, a lawyer for McMahon, said in a statement provided to SEScoops.
“After telling the federal court she would pause her lawsuit, Ms. Grant immediately violated the stay order by seeking one-sided discovery for her benefit. Her lawyer told the media that the information in the new Connecticut state action is to ‘assist in our claims in the federal action.’ We are asking the federal court to ensure the plaintiff abides by the court’s order and if she does not, that civil contempt and financial sanctions may result.”
In a statement to B.J. Bethel last week, Grant counsel Ann Callis said the filing didn’t violate the stay.
“We did not violate a federal stay by filing a state action against a non-defendant,” Callis said.
Sources familiar with the case said there was no violation since Peak Wellness and Colker aren’t defendants in the federal suit, and it was a state court action.
McMahon’s counsel is asking the federal court to temporarily lift the stay so it can file a motion accusing Grant of violating the order.
In Grant’s civil complaint, filed in January, she accused McMahon and a Peak Wellness employee of sexually assaulting her.
