President-elect Trump’s choice for secretary of education, former WWE CEO Linda McMahon, was accused in an October lawsuit of ignoring child sexual abuse committed by a former ringside announcer for the wrestling organization.
According to the lawsuit, McMahon, her husband Vince, and other WWE employees knew about Melvin Phillips’ wrongdoing and were careless in not stopping it.
According to the lawsuit, Phillips employed “ring boys” as young as 13 for years before assaulting them.
In light of a recent amendment to Maryland law that removes the state’s statute of limitations for allegations of child sex abuse, the action, which was brought on behalf of five unidentified males, targets the McMahons and the WWE.
Phillips passed away in 2012. Phillips was a WWE mainstay. Phillips allegedly abused boys in hotels and stadium facilities, including locker and dressing rooms, according to the plaintiffs.
The Cabinet candidate, according to a lawyer for Linda McMahon, “will vigorously defend against this baseless lawsuit and without doubt ultimately succeed.”
The FBI conducted an investigation in 1993, which is acknowledged in the lawsuit. There were no charges brought.
Vince McMahon admitted firing Phillips
According to the lawsuit, which includes a 1992 New York Post article and a sworn deposition by the report, Vince McMahon admitted firing Phillips at one point because his “relationship with kids seemed peculiar, and unnatural,” but he and Linda McMahon chose to rehire him a few weeks later.
Following allegations in a separate complaint by a former employee that he coerced her into a sexual connection and offered sex with her to an unidentified WWE talent, Vince McMahon resigned from the parent company of WWE in January.
Requests for comment from the WWE, the incoming Trump administration, and an attorney for Vince McMahon were not immediately answered.
Linda McMahon was the Small Business Administration’s administrator during the first Trump administration. Trump declared her his choice to be his Education Secretary nomination on Tuesday.
In 2009 and 2010, for a little over a year, McMahon served on the Connecticut State Board of Education.