A federal appeals court has ruled against former WWE CEO Vince McMahon's lawyer in a dispute over withholding documents from a grand jury investigating McMahon's handling of multimillion-dollar settlements with two female employees who accused him of sexual abuse. The court upheld a lower court's decision stating the documents weren't protected by attorney-client privilege due to a "crime or fraud" exception.

The court found reasonable grounds to believe McMahon and his lawyer concealed the claims and settlements from WWE, creating false records and misleading auditors, even though McMahon used personal funds for the settlements.

While McMahon's lawyer provided many documents, they withheld 208, citing attorney-client privilege. The court ruling provides new details about the ongoing grand jury investigation, the status of which remains unclear. McMahon has previously denied any wrongdoing and claimed the investigations were about minor accounting errors.

One of the former employees involved, Janel Grant, previously filed a lawsuit accusing McMahon and another executive of sexual misconduct, leading to McMahon's resignation from WWE's parent company in January 2024. Grant alleges she was pressured into leaving WWE and signing a $3 million nondisclosure agreement, which she claims McMahon breached. The court ruling mentions this settlement and another $7.5 million settlement with a different former employee.

McMahon stepped down as WWE’s CEO in 2022 amid a company investigation into similar allegations. Grant's lawsuit seeks to invalidate the nondisclosure agreement, alleging sexual battery and trafficking.

The appeals court highlighted that the settlement agreements were designed to conceal the claims from WWE, reinforcing the lower court's findings.