A lawsuit accusing former WWE CEO Linda McMahon, President-elect Trump’s pick for secretary of education, of turning a blind eye to child sexual abuse by a former ringside announcer at the wrestling company has been paused, according to court documents filed this week in the U.S. District Court in Maryland.
The lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of five unnamed men, targets the McMahons and the WWE under a new change in Maryland law that eliminates the state’s statute of limitations for claims of child sex abuse. Vince McMahon left the company in January following allegations of sexual misconduct. Linda McMahon left the company in 2009 to run for a U.S. Senate seat in Connecticut.
The lawsuit alleges Melvin Phillips for years hired — and later assaulted — “ring boys” as young as 13. A fixture in the WWE, Phillips assaulted boys in arena facilities, such as dressing and locker rooms, as well as hotels, the lawsuit alleges.
Phillips died in 2012.
An attorney for Linda McMahon told CBS News in late November that the Cabinet nominee would “vigorously defend against this baseless lawsuit and without doubt ultimately succeed.”
The motion filed by their attorney states that because the incidents happened in the 1980s and were filed under the law’s recent change, the case couldn’t move forward until the question of whether the law was constitutional was resolved.
Court documents said the case was stayed pending a ruling by the Supreme Court of Maryland on consolidated appeals on the constitutionality of the Maryland Child Victims Act of 2023.
The parties needed to file a status report every 60 days from the date of the order and within 15 days of any opinion issued by the Supreme Court of Maryland in the consolidated appeal, court documents said.
Linda McMahon and Vince McMahon co-founded the WWE and led it for decades. The couple have been friends of Trump for over 20 years and are among his most prolific donors.
Linda McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term, stepping down in 2019 to help with his 2020 reelection campaign. She is currently a co-chair of Trump’s transition team.
Graham Kates
contributed to this report.
