NFL Network has suspended Marshall Faulk, Ike Taylor and Heath Evans while investigating claims of sexual harassment from a lawsuit filed by one of their former colleagues.
Jami Cantor, who worked as a wardrobe stylist for NFL Network, filed a wrongful termination suit against NFL Enterprises in Los Angeles Superior Court back in October. As first reported by Bloomberg, she described incidents of harassment by the three retired players, as well as Eric Weinberger, a former network executive producer and current president of Bill Simmons Media Group.
In the suit, Cantor claims that Faulk groped her breasts and behind and asked “deeply personal and invasive questions” about her sex life. She said that both Taylor and Weinberger sent her inappropriate pictures, with Taylor additionally sending her a video of him masturbating in the shower. Cantor also noted that Weinberger said on one occasion that she was “put on earth to pleasure me” and pressed his crotch against her, asking her to touch it. She also described receiving explicit texts from former NFL Network analyst Donovan McNabb, who currently appears on ESPN.
The network has suspended the three former players. Bill Simmons could not be reached for comment by Bloomberg regarding Weinberger’s role in his company.
Update (1:00 a.m. ET, 12/12/17): Here is a copy of Cantor’s original suit, filed in October. The wrongful termination suit mentions sexual harassment, but it does not name any names or describe any incidents in detail.
Read more here!
Cantor filed an amended complaint on Monday, which goes into far greater detail about workplace harassment. In addition to the incidents described above, Cantor notes Weinberger requesting that she join him in an office bathroom because he was “super horny” and sending her a text reading, “watching you walk down the hall makes me crazy, your ass drives me insane.”
She notes that Evans propositioned her multiple times and repeatedly made lewd overtures:
Heath Evans sent Plaintiff nude pictures of himself on at least two separate occasions. Mr. Evans constantly propositioned Plaintiff to have sex with him. Mr. Evans also made several sexually inappropriate comments to Plaintiff, such as, “you’re making me horny,” and “needed to get in you deep and hard.”
She describes Faulk asking her for her favorite sex position, whether she liked oral sex and whether she dated black men. Cantor claims that his behavior soon escalated into something physical:
As time went on, Mr. Faulk became more aggressive, such as inviting Plaintiff to his hotel room, stroking and pulling out his genitals in front of her, pointing to his crotch and asking Plaintiff, “when are you gonna get on this already?” He also pinned Plaintiff against a wall, demanding oral sex while he pulled his pants down.
She also describes harassment from NFL Network analysts who have since left the company. From Eric Davis:
…came into Plaintiff’s office pretending to ask for help with his clothes so he could grab and push/rub his body against Plaintiff. Mr. Davis made lewd comments to Plaintiff in her office and while on set, such as, “when are we going to spend time together?” “I want you so bad,” “my cock is so hard because of you right now,” “you look like a woman who knows what to do in bed,” “you look like you would be an animal in the sheets,” “[Mr. Davis] loved really rough sex and would love to be able to spank [Plaintiff] so hard it would leave marks,” “can tell you like it rough and would love it.” Mr. Davis also asked Plaintiff to have rough sex with him, and said that he wanted to choke Plaintiff from behind until Plaintiff begged him to stop. Also, while Plaintiff was working on set on a ladder, Mr. Davis grabbed Plaintiff’s behind, slid his hand between Plaintiff’s legs, and touched Plaintiff’s privates, while saying, “I can’t handle your ass it is so luscious.” When Plaintiff slapped his hand away, Mr. Davis aggressively told Plaintiff to never push his hand away again.”
And from Warren Sapp, who was fired from the network after soliciting a prostitute at the Super Bowl in 2015:
…came into the restroom while Plaintiff was preparing clothes, and urinated in front of her. Plaintiff screamed at him to get out, but Mr. Sapp laughed and told Plaintiff, “Sorry mama, but your office shouldn’t be our shitter.” Plaintiff complained to the NFL, but nothing was done until Plaintiff told the NFL she would work in the hallway. Mr. Sapp also gave Plaintiff sex toys as a Christmas gifts three years in a row, showed Plaintiff nude pictures of numerous women he claimed to have slept with, and openly talked about his sex life in front of Plaintiff and other NFL employees, including supervisors.
Some of the specific texts she received from McNabb are also included:
including but not limited to, asking Plaintiff if she was a “squirter,” telling Plaintiff she “looked like the kind of girl that squirted when getting fucked,” “CUM to dinner with me,” and “why don’t you CUM over after work.”
The amended complaint can be found in full below.
Read more here!
Update (1:10 a.m., 12/12/17): The Ringer—the central property of Bill Simmons Media Group—has released a statement about Weinberger, who has been placed on leave indefinitely. “These are very serious and disturbing allegations that we were made aware of today. We are placing Eric on leave indefinitely until we have a better understanding of what transpired during his time at the NFL, and we will conduct our own internal investigation.”