Linda McMahon, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of education, is under scrutiny for her handling of alleged child sex abuse when she was CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). A decades-old allegation against a WWE employee has recently been revisited in a lawsuit by plaintiffs who claim they were abused while working for the company.
McMahon has become a close political ally to Trump since leaving WWE 15 years ago. She served as the head of the White House Small Business Administration in Trump’s first term and is currently a co-chair of Trump’s 2024 transition team.
As secretary of education, McMahon would have power over how the federal government enforces rules surrounding sexual harassment and abuse in schools.
In October, five plaintiffs named Linda McMahon and Vince McMahon, her husband and longtime business partner, in a lawsuit. It alleged the McMahons covered up for an employee sexually abusing other, young employees.
In the 1980s, the company hired “ring boys,” teenagers who would build and take down the set for WWE’s traveling performances.
They allege a ring announcer named Mel Phillips would find children like them, hire them and then sexually abuse them at work and during work travel.
According to the complaint, both Vince and Linda McMahon knew Phillips was abusing children. The plaintiffs allege the McMahons fired Phillips when the abuse allegations became public knowledge in 1988.
However, they say the McMahons hired Phillips back six weeks later. Phillips later died in 2012.
Reporting at the time lines up with their complaint. In 1992, New York Post columnist Phil Mushnick wrote an article about Vince McMahon, including a phone interview with the WWE chairman.
Mushnick wrote that “McMahon said he rehired Phillips with the caveat that he steer clear from kids.”
In an article from The Washington Post published Tuesday, Nov. 19, Linda McMahon’s attorney Laura Brevetti said the lawsuit was, “baseless” and noted that Linda and Vince McMahon are currently separated.
While Trump has said he wants to abolish the Department of Education, McMahon would still run the agency if the Senate votes to confirm her.
The department would stay in operation unless Congress approves its formal shutdown.
