Clients in the case commonly known as the “Ring Boys” are able to move forward following a federal judge’s rejection on Monday of a constitutional challenge brought by World Wrestling Entertainment, TKO Group Holdings, Vince McMahon and U.S. Education Department Secretary Linda McMahon.
U.S. District Judge James Bredar’s ruling in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland involved constitutionality of Maryland’s Child Victims Act of 2023. Defendants request for dismissal was rejected in December. The case is formally filed as John Doe 1, et al., v. World Wrestling Entertainment, et al.
World Wrestling Entertainment, TKO Group Holdings, and Vince and Linda McMahon are accused of bringing in underage boys for wrestling events. Accusations of exploitation and sexual abuse are in the lawsuit.
Linda McMahon – native of New Bern, N.C., and graduate of nearby East Carolina University – is the second-term Republican President Donald Trump’s choice to lead, and eventually shutter, the Education Department. Her lawyer, Laura Brevetti, is on record saying the civil litigation is “baseless,” without truth, and was probed by the FBI years ago, with no findings to pursue prosecution.
Maryland’s Child Victims Act of 2023 eliminated time limits on civil lawsuits involving childhood sexual abuse. Defendants said the law violates the 14th Amendment due process clause; Bredar disagreed, writing in his opinion, “the law is constitutional as applied to the case.”
Future dates for the litigation are expected to be known after a Nov. 17 conference. The discovery phase would be the next round. The possibility of trial would likely not be before 2027.
