Vince McMahon Demands Oliver Luck's Phone Passcode as Part of XFL Lawsuit

Former XFL owner Vince McMahon and the league's former commissioner, Oliver Luck, are locked in a dispute about whether Luck's iPhone passcode should be turned over as part of the $23.8 million lawsuit he filed against McMahon's Alpha Entertainment for wrongful termination.

Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic reported Monday the sides' legal teams have already met four times to discuss the contentious issue, and a discovery conference with a federal district court judge is set for Dec. 17.

McMahon argued in a court filing the information on Luck's league-issued phone is central to the case and can be handled over to the defense based on Connecticut law:

"The full contents of Alpha's iPhone are relevant to showing that Luck was properly terminated for cause under his Employment Contract because he grossly neglected his duties after March 13, 2020—when Luck effectively abandoned his responsibilities as XFL Commissioner and CEO and returned home to Indiana despite the existential threat to the league posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Examination of the data on the iPhone will show Luck's activities during this critical time period when he was not in the office and demonstrate that he failed to 'devote substantially all of his business time to the performance of his duties to the XFL' as required by his Employment Contract."

Luck's lawyers have argued they hired a forensic expert to evaluate the phone for work-related activity and provided it to Alpha Entertainment, per Kaplan. They described the defense's continued efforts to acquire the passcode as a "fishing expedition designed to harass and embarrass Mr. Luck and invade his privacy":

"Despite Defendants' arguments to the contrary, neither Defendant (Luck is suing both McMahon and Alpha) has any statutory right to the passcode, as they are not employers of Mr. Luck nor is he their employee. These narrowly defined terms are used throughout the statute's text, but neither the statute nor the bill's analysis mentions former employees or former employers nor is their definition ever expanded."

U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden of Connecticut will determine the fate of the passcode, per Kaplan.

McMahon took on a less front-facing role in the second reincarnation of the XFL after a similar effort to create a secondary football league ended after one season in 2001. He hired Luck as commissioner in June 2018 based on his experience as an NCAA executive.

Luck, a former NFL quarterback, guided the league through its development stages, and it got off to a promising start in early 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic cut its debut season short.

McMahon fired Luck in early April citing "gross neglect" of his duties at the onset of the pandemic less than a week before the league filed for bankruptcy.

Luck filed the lawsuit a short time later saying he "wholly disputes and rejects the allegations set forth in the Termination Letter and contends they are pretextual and devoid of merit."

In August, the XFL was sold to a group featuring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, his business partner Dany Garcia and RedBird Capital as part of the bankruptcy proceedings.

Johnson previously worked for McMahon as a WWE Superstar. McMahon is the longtime WWE chairman.

The new ownership group has announced the XFL plans to resume play in the spring of 2022.