WWE Sex Harassment Suit Bodyslammed
Jury Rejects Female Bodybuilder’s Sexual Harassment Claims
By Larry McShane
The Associated Press
N E W Y O R K, Oct. 9 — Vince McMahon was a winner Tuesday — and the wrestling impresario didn't even need a script.
A federal jury in Brooklyn cleared McMahon's World Wrestling Entertainment and one of its executives of sexual harassment, rejecting the claims of 6-foot-2, 230-pound ex-wrestler Nicole Bass.
The jury deliberated just more than two hours before returning the verdict in U.S. District Court, WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt said.
The decision capped a wild three-week trial with more subplots than a typical McMahon pay-per-view, including a star turn from WWE wrestler Triple H, a weepy Bass accusing lawyers of twisting her words, and McMahon himself detailing the world of pro wrestling.
"Nicole Bass' case was a bunch of flimsy garbage, just a shakedown," McDevitt said after the verdict. "She wanted money from a company that she thought would roll over and pay it. She was wrong."
Unusual Look, But ‘Two Left Feet’
McMahon testified that Bass' "unusual look" — the weightlifter could bench press 315 pounds — made her a potential WWE superstar. But once Bass stepped inside the ring, she displayed "two left feet" and quickly washed out, McMahon continued.
McMahon, after receiving word of the jury's decision from his wife and fellow WWE executive Linda, was "very happy with the verdict," McDevitt said. The WWE, in a statement on its Web site, called the verdict "vindication of our corporate name and reputation."
Bass' attorney, Kathleen Tomlinson, was not available for comment. She had described Bass, a former bodybuilder and frequent guest on Howard Stern's radio show, as "a simple, uncomplicated person."
WWE Agent Also Cleared
Bass worked for the WWE between May and September 1999. During that time, Bass alleged in her lawsuit, she was subjected to numerous sexual "indignities."
The 38-year-old Bass alleged that a male wrestler had "graphically simulated a sexual act" behind her back; that female wrestlers were accosted by male WWE employees in their locker rooms; and that she was sexually assaulted on an airplane by a WWE executive who once wrestled under the name Abe "Knuckleball" Schwartz.
The executive, Steve Lombardi, was cleared of sexual harassment as well.
Bass also alleged that she was smacked with what was supposed to be a "gimmicked" guitar — a prop that should explode upon impact. Instead, Bass claimed, a real guitar was used and she suffered a head wound.
During his summation, McDevitt ridiculed the notion that any of the WWE's star wrestlers had tried to sneak a peek at the heavily muscled Bass.
"There isn't one person who works at the WWE who would risk their dream job to walk in the locker room and see her naked," the attorney told the jury.
Back To Court Case Verdicts
