The hits keep coming for the WWE and Vince McMahon as they’re reportedly being sued for a series of racist storylines and pitches from a former writer.
According to the lawsuit that can be found through Wrestlingnews.co and Brandon Thurston’s tweets
Britney Abrahams is listed as the plaintiff with the defendants cited as World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., Christopher Dunn. Ryan Callahan, Jennifer Pepperman, Christine Lubrano, Mike Heller, Vincent K. McMahon, and Stephanie McMahon
Former WWE writer Britney Abrahams is suing the company and individual staff, alleging "discriminatory treatment, harassment, hostile work environment, wrongful termination, unlawful retaliation against the Plaintiff due to her race, color, and gender"https://t.co/K5kWxyrea4 pic.twitter.com/gVAJg0i1FE
— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) April 26, 2023
Selling stereotypes
One of the detailed segments included was how Callahan allegedly had the idea that Mansoor was behind the 9/11 attacks and another that Mansoor, Angel Garza, and Aliyah would be in a love triangle.
Heller allegedly wanted the love triangle to be more sexist and disregarded Abrahams’ attempts to hype up Aliyah’s feminist values by having her fall for Angel’s clearly evil tactics.
Another incident cites Abraham’s concerns about Bianca Belair having to say racist and stereotypical phrases Abraham found objectionable.
Here’s the excerpt detailing it:
“The said scene included offensively racist and stereotypical jargon which Plaintiff found objectionable.
“By way of example, according to the script, DUNN intended Ms. Belair, the said black female WWE wrestler, to say, “Uh-Uh! Don’t make me take off my earrings and beat your ass!” which are lines based upon cruel, ugly stereotypes of dark-skinned, black women.
“Plaintiff asserts that Ms. Belair uttering that line was, and still is, negatively stereotypical of race and gender, and Plaintiff found it offensive, and still finds it offensive.
“Prior to the writing of this scene many of the WWE writers commonly complained that they didn’t know what to do with Ms. Belair.
“As a result, Plaintiff undertook researching Ms. Belair’s background, and discovered a fascinating family tree, including an aunt who helped desegregate her high school in the 1960s, and an uncle whose contributions to science were world-renowned.
“DUNN allowed Plaintiff to write a first draft of Ms. Belair’s scene, so Plaintiff included positive references to Ms. Belair’s rich family history and sent it to DUNN for feedback.
“DUNN told Plaintiff that the draft “looks great. I’m going to make some edits and submit it to [CALLAHAN].”
“However, DUNN subjected Plaintiff’s draft to substantial editing, including inserting the said racial Case. That same night, Plaintiff complained about the racially offensive and discriminatory nature of the scene to one of her WWE superiors, Defendant CALLAHAN.
“Plaintiff emailed CALLAHAN and said, “I know I’m new, I’m not trying to be disrespectful or step on [DUNN]’s or anyone’s toes, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that [Ms. Belair]’s scene includes racial jargon and offensive stereotypes, particularly her go-home line.”
“Plaintiff also requested clarification for protocol on moving forward with her complaint.
“In conversation with Ms. Belair the following day, Ms. Belair informed Plaintiff that she told DUNN “3 DIFFERENT TIMES THAT I DON’T WANT TO SAY THAT LINE! BUT HE NEVER LISTENS TO ME! HE PUTS THAT LINE IN EVERY WEEK.”
“Ms. Belair said the script’s discriminatory line(s) made her look “ghetto.”
“Plaintiff relayed this information to DUNN and politely offered to edit the line(s).
“However, despite Plaintiff’s complaint, Defendants failed and/or refused to take any immediate or appropriate corrective action in response.
“Plaintiff never received any form of response from CALLAHAN, verbally nor via email, and CALLAHAN never spoke to Plaintiff about her email or the line(s), or the scene.
“Additionally, WWE’s failure and/or refusal to address Plaintiff’s complaint emboldened WWE employees, including DUNN and CALLAHAN, to further discriminate against and to retaliate against Plaintiff in response to her protected conduct.
“By way of example, WWE kept the discriminatory line in the script. Plaintiff was scheduled to shadow DUNN on two (2) scenes that day, one of which was the said scene with Ms. Belair.
“However, around halfway through the day, DUNN informed Plaintiff that she would now shadow CALLAHAN.
“When Plaintiff requested DUNN’s assistance, he told Plaintiff “YOU HANDLE IT. IT’S YOUR SCENE NOW.”
“CALLAHAN showed up for the taping of Plaintiff’s scenes about 90 seconds before they went live, and he never once mentioned Plaintiff’s email.
“Defendants switched Plaintiff’s assignment and made her shadow WWE’s lead writer, who was not present until the show filmed live.
“The switch in assignment was due to Plaintiff’s race, and gender and had the purpose and effect of sabotaging Plaintiff’s career with the WWE, and to serve as a pretext for retaliatory adverse actions.
“Defendants did not provide Plaintiff with any training on what needed to be done during the live broadcast.
“Defendants’ actions were clearly discriminatory as similarly situated white, male WWE employees are not treated in this manner.
“Defendants’ actions in this regard were clearly retaliatory, given the temporal proximity between Plaintiff’s protected conduct and WWE’s adverse employment actions.
“Defendants’ actions in this regard were done to humiliate, intimidate and undermine the Plaintiff’s performance as she had never been tasked with this responsibility and had no idea of the new role’s requirements.”
This definitely doesn’t put Dunn or those listed in the lawsuit in the best light, and we’re interested to see what the WWE’s response to this will be.
With Endeavor buying the company, this will be their first test on how they handle the fallout from past decisions and actions under the Vince McMahon led WWE.
We’ll keep you updated as more information comes out.
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