Former Ring Boys’ Abuse Lawsuit Clears a Constitutional Challenge

Five men who once worked on wrestling ring crews brought a civil lawsuit on October 23, 2024, accusing WWE, Vince and Linda McMahon, and TKO Group Holdings of negligence over sexual abuse they say they suffered as boys. Filed in Baltimore County Circuit Court under the names John Doe 1 through John Doe 5, the complaint alleged that former ring announcer and crew chief Mel Phillips abused them—and that the McMahons knew or should have known and failed to stop him.

The complaint described access to wrestling shows as an invitation into Phillips’s company. Doe 1 said he was 13 when he met Phillips outside a WWF event in 1981 or 1982. “I can get you in. I work here,” Phillips allegedly told him. What followed, Doe 1 said, included front-row seats and introductions to wrestlers, but also sexual abuse in private rooms and hotels.

During one trip to Philadelphia, according to Doe 1’s account in the complaint, a wrestler asked whether he was all right. Frightened of Phillips, the boy stuttered, “Yeah.” The wrestler asked again; Phillips intervened, saying Doe 1 was his friend. After alleged abuse at a hotel that night, Phillips dropped him off the following morning, gave him more than $150 and told him, “Don’t say anything to your parents.”

Other allegations placed Phillips’s conduct within the workplace rather than entirely behind closed doors. Doe 4 said he and his friends helped set up rings at Philadelphia’s Spectrum. In the complaint, he described Phillips pinning boys down, twisting their toes and engaging in sexual touching in a locker room in view of wrestlers. Doe 4 reported continuing mental and emotional distress. The men sought anonymity because of the personal nature of their allegations and the risk of harm from suing in their own names.

Their claims included negligent hiring, training and retention. They alleged that Phillips was fired in 1988 after concerns about his treatment of underage crew members surfaced, then brought back with an instruction to stay away from children—a condition they said he ignored. WWE and its parent company, TKO, were named because the plaintiffs alleged that the abuse occurred as part of the company’s business. Phillips died in 2012.

Vince McMahon’s attorney, Jessica Rosenberg, rejected the negligence allegations, calling them “absurd, defamatory and utterly meritless” and saying they relied on old claims by New York Post columnist Phil Mushnick. She pledged to defend McMahon. Linda McMahon separately stated in court filings that she had not supervised Phillips and had not known of his actions.

In October 2026, federal Judge James Bredar rejected the defendants’ constitutional challenge to Maryland’s Child Victims Act. They had argued that reviving decades-old claims violated due process because those claims were difficult to defend, and that the law imposed retroactive punishment in violation of the Constitution’s ex post facto clause. Bredar rejected both arguments. The decision allowed the litigation to proceed; it did not determine whether the defendants were liable for the alleged abuse.

The court set a November call to determine the litigation schedule, which could include deposing Linda McMahon about what she knew. Plaintiffs’ attorney Greg Gutzler called the ruling a “significant victory.” For the five men, it preserved the opportunity to bring their accounts before a court: “Our clients have waited years to hold those responsible accountable,” he said.