The NFL Network has suspended three analysts after they were accused of sexual harassment and assault by a former wardrobe stylist.
Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk, former Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor and former journeyman fullback Heath Evans were all suspended pending further investigation, the network announced on Monday.
The three analysts, as well as NFL Network’s former executive Eric Weinberger and analyst Donovan McNabb, were named in a lawsuit brought on by Jami Cantor, who worked with the company from 2006 until her dismissal in October 2016.
McNabb, who currently works as a radio host for ESPN, has been placed on indefinite leave following the lawsuit filing.
Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk (left) and former journeyman fullback Heath Evans (right) were suspended from the NFL Network after they were accused of sexual harassment and assault by a former wardrobe stylist
Analyst and former Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor was also suspended from the network on Monday following accusations made by former wardrobe stylist Jami Cantor
Cantor accused Faulk of ‘fondling her breasts and groping her behind’, and claims also asked her ‘deeply personal and invasive questions’ about her sex life, USA Today reported.
Faulk, who was a top analyst for more than a decade, ‘became more aggressive’ and invited Cantor to his hotel, where she claims she exposed his genitals and made sexually suggestive comments.
Cantor also claimed that received inappropriate and sexually explicit texts from Evans, McNabb, Taylor and Weinberger on separate occasions.
She alleged that Evans sent her nude photos, proposed they have sex and repeatedly made ‘lewd gestures’.
McNabb allegedly asked her about specific sex acts over text more than once, and Taylor forwarded ‘sexually inappropriate’ photos of himself, according to the filing.
Cantor said she has a copy of a video that shows Taylor exposing himself in the shower.
The complaint also states that Weinberger sent ‘several nude pictures of himself and sexually explicit texts’ and allegedly ‘pressed his crotch against’ Cantor and asked her to ‘touch it’.
Weinberger, who is the president of sports personality Bill Simmons’s media group The Ringer, has been put on leave following the allegations.
‘These are very serious and disturbing allegations that we were made aware of today,’ The Ringer said in a statement. ‘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.’
The three analysts, as well as NFL Network’s former executive Eric Weinberger (left) and analyst Donovan McNabb (right) , were named in a lawsuit brought on by Cantor, who worked with the company from 2006 until her dismissal in October 2016. McNabb, who currently works as a radio host for ESPN, has been placed on indefinite leave following the lawsuit filing
Cantor originally filed a wrongful termination case against NFL Enterprises in Los Angeles Superior Court in October but Monday’s filing added more detail to her complaint, according to Bloomberg.
The men named in the lawsuit are not included as defendants.
Also included in the suit are former NFL Network employees Eric Davis and Warren Sapp, who was fired in 2015 after an arrest for soliciting a prostitute.
Cantor’s complaint states that Davis allegedly told Cantor: ‘You look like a woman who knows what to do in bed.’
‘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,’ the complaint alleges.
The complaint states that Cantor was forced to work in the men’s restroom, where Sapp once urinated in front of her.
‘Sapp also gave sex toys as a Christmas gifts three years in a row, showed (Cantor) nude pictures of numerous women he claimed to have slept with, and openly talked about his sex life in front of (Cantor) and other NFL employees, including supervisors,’ the complaint said.
‘The supervisors knew about it, the supervisors observed it,’ Cantor’s lawyer, Laura Horton, told the New York Times on Monday. ‘It was insidious in this particular environment.’
The lawsuit seeks unspecified general and punitive damages, alleges age and sex discrimination, sexual harassment that created a hostile work environment, wrongful termination and defamation.