A former NFL Network employee has filed a lawsuit alleging that she endured repeated sexual harassment and abuse from co-workers, including ex-football stars Marshall Faulk, Donovan McNabb, Eric Davis and Warren Sapp.
The NFL Network suspended Faulk, a retired running back who is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and fellow analysts Heath Evans and Ike Taylor after the allegations surfaced, spokesman Alex Riethmiller confirmed to HuffPost in an email. Evans and Taylor also are former players.
McNabb and Davis, who used to work for the NFL Network, were suspended by ESPN, their current employer. Sapp hasn’t worked for the NFL Network since 2015, when he was fired after being arrested for allegedly soliciting a prostitute. Those charges were later dropped.
The sexual misconduct allegations against the ex-players were detailed in an amended lawsuit filed in Los Angeles on Monday by Jami Cantor, a former wardrobe stylist at the NFL Network
In the complaint, first reported by Bloomberg News, Cantor accused Faulk of fondling her breasts and exposing his penis as he demanded oral sex. She said that Evans, a former fullback, sent nude pictures and made unwelcome propositions, and that Taylor, an ex-defensive back, sent her a video of him masturbating in the shower.
Marshall Faulk won't be a commentator on the NFL Network for the foreseeable future. (Photo: Icon Sports Wire via Getty Images)
“The supervisors knew about it, the supervisors observed it,” Cantor’s lawyer, Laura Horton, said, according to The New York Times. “It was insidious in this particular environment.”
She alleged another man, former NFL Network executive Eric Weinberger, groped her and pushed his genitals against her. Weinberger has been suspended by his current company, The Ringer.
The suit alleges McNabb, a longtime NFL quarterback, sent her lewd messages and that Davis, who played 13 seasons in the NFL as a defensive back, groped her. Both men most recently have been hosting radio shows for ESPN.
Sapp, according to the suit, gave Cantor sex toys as Christmas gifts three years in a row and showed her nude photos of other women with whom he claimed to have had sexual relations. He also is in the NFL Hall of Fame.
Cantor asserts that she was wrongfully terminated by the NFL Network, where she worked 10 years until her dismissal for allegedly stealing in 2016. Cantor, then 51, said she complained about the working conditions to no avail and was replaced by a woman 21 years younger than her.
Cantor originally filed her suit in October.
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Jess
“I was walking home from work one day and I was on the phone, just about to cross the road. A guy stopped his car in the middle of the road and asked me to get in his car. I said no and tried to walk around it, so he drove his car to block my way. I tried to walk behind it but he did the same thing. He then shouted, 'Get in my car or I’ll run you over!' I then slammed my fists on the car bonnet and shouted at him, which I think shook him so it gave me some time to cross the road and run away.”
Florence
"Two summers ago I was walking to a supermarket in Marseille. A guy was getting out of his car and said to me, 'La pute c'est magnifique [Whores are beautiful],' as I walked past."
Monica
"I was on the subway, and I was approached by an older man who started asking me questions. We were the only ones on the platform, and he asked me if I was single, if I was a lesbian, and finally, 'Can I show you my penis?' He was cornering me between the platform and the edge; luckily the train pulled in at that moment, otherwise I don't know what he would have done."
Gina
"I just moved to New York and one day I decided to go downtown. I sat down on the train and one guy got on and stood right in front of me holding onto the rail. I turned my face and body to the right instead of his body in front of me. Then, I see a weird movement happening to my left, in the corner of my eye. It ended up being his penis sticking out of his zipper of his pants and he was rubbing it. I quickly turned my eyes back. I just thought it was sick that he even thought to do that right in front of my face. I am a short girl so anyone that stands in front of me I am eye level to that part of the body. There were tons of seats open and he still chose to stand in front of me. So I quickly just thought to get off at the next stop. I didn't really know what to do. It was a weird experience."
Maya
"After leaving a nightclub with my friends and my girlfriend, we decided to get a bus to another venue. As we were waiting for the bus, a man approached me and started trying to chat me up. I said straightaway that I'm a lesbian, and that I was with my girlfriend. He then took that as some sort of challenge, and proceeded to tell me I just needed his dick and tried to expose himself to me. Fortunately, my male friend stepped in and eventually he managed to make him leave. The whole incident lasted about 20 minutes in total and was quite traumatic."
Gabriella
“When I was 15, I was walking home from school like I always did, in my school uniform. This time, however, a man kept kissing at me from his van. I decided to ignore him since it repulsed me, but he persisted to do it and call out remarks. After walking further up the road I turned around to notice that he had stopped, parked the van, opened the doors and was coming directly at me. Luckily I was around the corner from my house, so I ran down the hill to get home and didn’t look back.”
Danielle
"I was sitting on a coach traveling through Croatia, and four guys sat in the row of seats in front of me. One of them sat next to me uninvited and started making conversation. Over the next two hours he kept moving closer and closer to me, even trying to touch and stroke me. He tried to put his hand under my romper and each time I would tell him to leave me alone. There was a couple who was sitting across from us but they did nothing the whole time. When the coach stopped, I tried to move past him and he touched my bum."
Jess
“When I was about 12 or 13 me and my friends used to get the bus to school and a man who must have been about 40 tried to take photos on his phone up our skirts -- the police ended up getting called but said they couldn't do anything about it in the end.”
Dorina
"I was walking down a street in Manhattan when I saw a man walking toward me. His daughter was holding his hand and his young son was behind him on a scooter. As the distance between us got shorter I could tell that he was intensely staring at me, studying my legs, my sundress, my cleavage. Just as our paths crossed he lunged toward me and whispered, 'Mmmm, I’d like to taste your chocolate.' I was most horrified that his daughter was right there, watching her father verbally assault me, while his son was behind learning from his actions."
Juliette
"I was 19, and I had just moved to Paris. I was in a crowded train and there was a guy pressed up against my back, then he started to move against me. I first thought he was trying to get off the train, but then he started to whisper in my ear. I turned around to face him, trying to look angry, but then he put his hands on my hips and started grinding on me. So I stepped on his toes hard, and then stormed out of the train."
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!["Two summers ago I was walking to a supermarket in Marseille. A guy was getting out of his car and said to me, 'La pute c'est magnifique [Whores are beautiful],' as I walked past."](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/JB.DcDOf2uqz54JxoZn70w--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5a12eb3a180000e769f6d0e2.jpeg)
