Vince McMahon to pay $1.7 million for failing to disclose settlements
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(WASHINGTON) — Vince McMahon, the former head of WWE, will pay $1.7 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission for failing to disclose two settlements he had with employees while he ran the formerly publicly traded company.
One settlement agreement, signed in 2019, obligated McMahon to pay a former employee $3 million in exchange for the former employee’s agreement not to disclose her relationship with McMahon and her release of potential claims against WWE and McMahon, and the second agreement, signed in 2021, obligated McMahon to pay a former WWE independent contractor $7.5 million in exchange for the independent contractor’s agreement not to disclose her allegations against McMahon and her release of potential claims against WWE and McMahon, according to the SEC.
These payments were not disclosed and, thus, “WWE overstated its 2018 net income by approximately 8 percent and its 2021 net income by approximately 1.7 percent,” according to the SEC.
McMahon agreed to pay a $400,000 civil penalty and reimburse WWE $1,330,915.90, the SEC said.
In a statement posted on X, McMahon said the “case is closed.”
“Today ends nearly three years of investigation by different governmental agencies,” he said.
“There has been a great deal of speculation about what exactly the government was investigating and what the outcome would be. As today’s resolution shows, much of that speculation was misguided and misleading,” he added. “In the end, there was never anything more to this than minor accounting errors with regard to some personal payments that I made several years ago while I was CEO of WWE. I’m thrilled that I can now put all this behind me.”
McMahon, who is married to President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be education secretary, Linda McMahon, resigned from WWE’s parent company TKO Group Holdings in 2024 after he was sued by a former employee accusing him of sexual misconduct. McMahon has denied any wrongdoing in that suit.
(LITTLE ROCK, Ark.) — Shots rang out at the Park Plaza Mall in Little Rock, Arkansas, on Black Friday, leaving three people injured, police said.
The shooting occurred at 1:44 p.m., according to the Little Rock Police Department. The three people who were hurt have injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening, according to police.
Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. released a statement after the shooting, saying there are two suspects.
“Two individuals today jeopardized the lives and safety of residents and visitors,” Scott Jr. said Friday.
“We are praying for the victims of this incident, and are hopeful they make a full recovery,” he added.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — Active shooter drills have become the norm in schools across the U.S., but experts warn they have the potential to cause more harm than good.
Though the exercises seek to prepare students to respond to gun violence in their schools, little evidence exists proving their efficacy, experts told ABC News, days after two people were killed during a shooting at a Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin.
They can, however, cause marked damage to mental health and even serve as an instruction manual for potential school shooters, according to some experts.
“There’s too little research confirming the value of [drills] involving students — but evidence is absolutely mounting on their lasting harms,” Sarah Burd-Sharps, the senior research director at the anti-gun violence advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety, told ABC News.
Over 95% of public schools in the U.S. have trained students on lockdown procedures to be used in the event of an active shooter incident, a number that has risen significantly since the early 2000s, according to a 2017 U.S. Department of Education report. At least 40 states have laws requiring these drills, according to data collected by Everytown.
Despite their ubiquity, few standards exist regulating how these drills should be conducted, Burd-Sharps said. As a result, the practices can range widely, she said. In some schools, training may consist of basic education on lockdown procedures. Others, however, have taken it further, simulating a real life active shooting scenario with sounds of gunfire or even school staff members posing as shooters.
Trainings of this kind can be deeply traumatizing to students and have a negative impact on mental health. A 2021 study by Burd-Sharps and others, which examined 114 schools across 33 states, found an approximate 40% increase in anxiety and depression in the three months after drills.
The effects can be especially pronounced among students with preexisting mental health struggles and those who have personal experience with gun violence, such as those who regularly hear gunfire in their communities or who have survived a prior shooting, Burd-Sharps said.
Rebekah Schuler, a 19-year-old Students Demand Action leader who survived the 2021 Oxford High School shooting in Michigan, said she and her classmates hadn’t taken active shooter drills very seriously until the attack that killed four students and injured seven others.
After the shooting, many of her classmates transferred, going on to schools that held their own active shooter trainings, she said. Many found these drills retraumatizing, she said, and some would have panic attacks.
“I hadn’t known the seriousness of it, but after the shooting, they were traumatizing to a different level,” Schuler told ABC News of the drills.
Advocacy groups like Everytown, as well as Sandy Hook Promise — the nonprofit formed by the families of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting — are pushing for stricter guidelines for active shooter drills that serve to better prepare school communities while avoiding negative effects.
In a report, Sandy Hook Promise recommended guidelines for these trainings, including requiring that they are announced in advance, allowing students to opt out and requiring regular reviews of practices.
The organization urged strongly against simulated gunfire, which they say can traumatize participants and risk physical injuries, without improving the exercises’ effectiveness. It’s a stance Burd-Sharps and other experts said is crucial for conducting safer trainings.
“No fake bullets, fake blood, janitors dressed as gunmen. That is deeply traumatizing,” she said. “And it’s not just traumatizing for the kids, it’s traumatizing for the teachers as well.”
Though few laws govern how these trainings are run, some states have begun taking steps to limit the most hyperrealistic practices. In July, New York banned drills that seek to realistically simulate shootings, and guidelines released by the Kentucky Department of Education recommend avoiding “dramatic crisis simulations.”
Active shooter drills also can come with another grim risk: serving as a blueprint for would-be school shooters on how to circumvent safety measures in planning their own attack. For instance, Natalie Rupnow, the alleged shooter at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, was a student at the school.
“Because 3 in 4 school shooters are a current or former student, by drilling multiple times a year, you are giving the roadmap of what’s going to happen during an active shooter incident to a potential shooter,” Burd-Sharps said, citing a 2016 New York Police Department report.
Experts recommend focusing training efforts more on teachers than on students, and concentrating more efforts around prevention strategies — particularly convincing parents to lock up their guns and teaching students who they can safely go to if they observe concerning behavior among their peers.
“When you compound actual shootings that kids see on TV all the time with these drills, and with lockdowns in response to new incidents, it’s actually not surprising that many American school kids are in crisis. The last thing they need is additional trauma from drills multiple times a year,” Burd-Sharps said.
(LOS ANGELES) — An event celebrating the top restaurants in Los Angeles left at least 80 people sickened with norovirus due to an outbreak linked to raw oysters, LA County’s Department of Public Health confirmed to ABC News.
The outbreak stemmed from an event at the Hollywood Palladium celebrating the Los Angeles Times’ list of the 101 best restaurants on Dec. 3, according to the agency.
Norovirus is a very contagious virus that causes vomiting and diarrhea and is commonly referred to as the “stomach flu” or the “stomach bug,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It is the leading cause of foodborne illness in the United States. Other symptoms may include stomach pain, fever, headache, body aches, or dehydration. Proper handwashing, disinfecting contaminated surfaces, washing laundry in hot water, and staying home when sick are ways to prevent further spread, according to the CDC.
“At this time, over 80 attendees that consumed the oysters have reported illness,” a spokesperson with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in a statement.
The oysters that were served and have since been recalled were Fanny Bay Select oysters and Fanny Bay XS oysters from Pacific Northwest Shellfish Co., according to the statement.
The pack date of the oysters was listed as Nov. 25 or later and the date of the recall notice was Dec. 13, the agency added.
Following the recall, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning on Dec. 18 to restaurants, retailers and consumers not to sell or eat the oysters in question due to potential norovirus contamination.
The warning was directed at 15 states across the country from Hawaii, California and Arizona to Illinois, Pennsylvania and New York. The FDA said the outbreak is believed to have originated in British Columbia, Canada.
Santa Monica Seafood, which supplied the oysters for the event, said in a statement to ABC News the company is “aware of the ongoing investigation into the recent food illness outbreak linked to oysters served” and is cooperating with the Public Health Department.
The retailer added that while the investigation is ongoing, “There is no evidence to suggest mishandling at any point in the supply chain, including by Santa Monica Seafood or any of the restaurants participating in the LA Times event.”
Tickets to the Los Angeles Times’ restaurant event associated with the outbreak cost eventgoers anywhere from $264 for general admission to upwards of $600 for VIP.
ABC News has reached out to the L.A. Times for a comment.
