A state audit of WWE in Stamford that was an issue in the hotly contested 2010 Connecticut U.S. Senate race ultimately found the professional wrestling company owes around $7,000 in underpaid unemployment compensation, The Associated Press reports, citing a WWE attorney.
In a letter to the state Department of Labor’s field audit unit, dated Monday and obtained by The AP, the lawyer said WWE does not agree with the findings reached by the agency.
But she said the company has decided reluctantly to pay the assessment for 2008 and 2009 to avoid further expenses.
“Given the small sums involved, compared against the costs of contesting your unilateral findings, WWE has determined it is most cost effective to simply pay the $7,316.64 assessment `under protest,'” wrote attorney Mary A. Gambardella. WWE said it did not receive a fine or any penalty following the probe, which it said began in the summer of 2009.
The confidential audit, which the state labor department will not confirm or deny, came to light during the Senate race when former WWE CEO Linda McMahon ran as a Republican candidate. She was challenging then-Democratic Attorney General Richard Blumenthal for the seat held by former U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd.
McMahon’s campaign said it believed the investigation was politically motivated. WWE said it began in summer 2009, when McMahon began considering he candidacy. Blumenthal denied that his office was involved.
Blumenthal ultimately won the Senate race.
