A new report from Forbes has brought to light the lack of a sexual harassment policy on its corporate website, a glaring omission in the midst of a sex trafficking lawsuit filed against the company and former chairman Vince McMahon by Janel Grant.
A search for such a policy leads to a page on the website that simply reads “not found.”
Kendra Barkoff Lamy, a spokesperson for the former WWE employee, issued a statement on this discovery:
WWE has been sued many times for failing to protect employees from sexual misconduct by executives and toxic workplace culture, including by Janel Grant, who endured years of sexual abuse at the hands of founder and former WWE CEO Vince McMahon, WWE executive John Laurinaitis, and the WWE organization
It is outrageous that WWE claims to have improved their workplace environment, yet they have no visible sexual harassment or workplace conduct policies listed on their website. This means WWE employees have no reference for appropriate behavior and no visible guidelines to report abuse. This is yet another example of WWE’s carelessness and failure to protect their employees, and we can only hope no one is harmed by this dangerous oversight. WWE employees deserve better.
The lawsuit is currently paused as McMahon is under federal investigation for allegations of sex trafficking, as well as sexual and emotional abuse.
A later statement by Lamy, as reported by Fightful, also addresses the company’s stance regarding non-disclosure agreements after attorney Ann Callis called for waivers to allow current and former employees to come forward with their own experiences.
WWE has a responsibility to protect its own employees. Yet, time and time again, WWE and their executives have been sued for sexual misconduct and toxic workplace culture, including by Janel Grant, who endured years of sexual abuse at the hands of founder and former WWE CEO Vince McMahon, WWE executive John Laurinaitis, and the WWE organization. Today, there are no visible sexual harassment or workplace conduct policies provided on the WWE website. In addition, they still haven’t waived former employee’s NDAs to speak freely about their experiences. WWE claims to be better, they need to prove it.