Trigger Warning: The article below contains mention of sexual assault, rape.
Ever since former WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon’s private affairs have been reported in public, starting from the hush-money settlement case in 2022, WWE has observed serious precautions in its policy regarding employees.
The company in its new policy has informed employees of the “possible negative consequences” of romantic relationships in the workplace. This was in June 2023, when WWE released a specific relationship policy between employees and board members.
In a document that was leaked by Post Wrestling, WWE’s Consensual Relationship policy, which was adopted in June 2023, informs the employees that “romantic, intimate or sexual relationships” in the workplace can create “the potential for abuse or authority or cause problems due to perceptions of favoritism by others.”
What does the policy say?
The new policy states that if employees enter into a consensual relationship with another employee (or any independent contractor), they are told to report it to human resources and “cooperate in actions taken to address any conflict of interest.”
The policy also states that “WWE strongly discourages consensual relationships involving any Board Member, or any executive team member.” If an executive team member is involved in a relationship with another employee, then they are instructed to disclose this in writing to the lead independent director of the board and chief human resources officer.
For the WWE board members, they have to report their consensual relationship involvement in writing to the CEO, chief legal officer and chief human resources officer.
The employees have also been asked to contact a 24/7 hotline number to report any concern relating to the policy. They are also warned that violation of the policy “may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination.”
Vince McMahon’s sexual trafficking case
In January 2024, WWE’s former employee Janel Grant filed a sexual trafficking case against Vince McMahon and Former Head of Talent Relations, John Laurinaitis. Grant not just leveled rape and sexual assault cases against McMahon but also accused him of sharing explicit pictures of her with other men, and also trafficking her to other people outside the company to get his business deals done.
The lawsuit also mentioned four WWE Corporate Officers including Vince McMahon’s daughter, Stephanie McMahon, former WWE Legal Department Brian Nurse, WWE President Nick Khan, and WWE Chief Operating Officer Brad Blum.
After the lawsuit became public, Vince McMahon had to resign from the TKO Group’s Executive Chairman post. Even WWE removed Vince McMahon’s reference from the website, and the company is doing everything to erase his name from WWE.
For now, Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis are gone for a long time, and they won’t be seen in near future. WWE now is ensuring through its new policy that something like this doesn’t happen.
