Vince McMahon’s return to WWE following a brief retirement has largely been greeted with raised eyebrows and jeers from fans. The embattled McMahon resigned in disgrace last year after allegations of sexual harassment and assault and has since reached settlements with some of his accusers. Most notably former WWE referee, Rita Chatterton, who accused the pro wrestling pioneer of rape.
His return to the WWE fold was not just greeted with suspicion by the fans but also by the company’s shareholders. A consolidated lawsuit by shareholders was filed in Delaware shortly after McMahon changed company bylaws to allow his reinstatement to the WWE board. Bloomberg Law is reporting that McMahon is now free from litigation in Delaware as the shareholders have dropped their suit against him.
The suit was dropped because the shareholders believe their point that McMahon had not been held accountable was now moot since he had agreed to pay the company back the $17.4 million it spent on its internal investigation into him. It was noted that the payment only covered the costs of the investigation and does not include the nearly $20 million that was spent in hush money payments.
The plaintiffs believe that their suit forced McMahon’s hand to take action and for their efforts, they are now requesting a “mootness fee.” A different set of shareholders is also seeking the same fee, saying their dropped suit against McMahon forced him to walk back some of the bylaw changes he made. With the dropping of these suits, the rash of shareholder derivative suits appears to be behind the company following McMahon’s return.
WWE and McMahon’s legal woes are not completely done at the moment as a former writer is suing the company alleging discrimination and racially insensitive creative pitches during her tenure. One of the more salacious allegations to come out of her suit is that a creative team member jokingly pitched that WWE star Mansoor should be revealed as the mind behind 9-11.