Marriott alleges Michael Irwin sexually harassed employee

DALLAS – This is the first time we’re hearing allegations that resulted in Cowboy Hall of Famer Michael Irvin being kicked out of the NFL Network’s Super Bowl coverage.

According to a lawsuit from the Marriott hotel chain, a hotel employee accused him of “unwanted sexual harassment.”

The bid was filed just hours before Irwin’s legal team won.

Marriott says it made the allegations public in court because of false statements made by Irvine and his lawyer during a press conference Wednesday.

Irwin’s lawyer says the allegations are “bullshit” and they now plan to release CCTV footage of the incident.
Irvin looked emotional Wednesday when he and his lawyer held a press conference to discuss his libel suit against Marriott.

He filed it after an employee at the Phoenix Hotel reported misconduct against him, which later led to him being dropped from NFL network coverage ahead of the Super Bowl.

“No, I didn’t do anything wrong. I know I didn’t do anything wrong,” Irwin said on Wednesday.

At the time, Marriott said little publicly about what Irwin was accused of, but in a court hearing on Friday, Marriott said Irwin made unwanted sexual harassment of an employee.

The documents say that when Irwin returned to the Renaissance Phoenix Hotel on February 5, he “appeared clearly drunk” and, in a conversation with a female employee, asked an obscene question that is too graphic to be detailed on television, but referred to sexual intercourse. act with a black man. man.

Lawyers for Marriott say: “Caught off guard by Irvin’s comments, the victim responded that his comments were inappropriate and she didn’t want to discuss it further… Irvin then tried to grab the victim’s arm again and said he was ‘sorry if he mentioned it.’ bad memories for her “… The victim jerked her hand away and tried to back away from Irwin, who kept moving towards her.”

According to Marriott, “Two other hotel employees noticed that the victim had a worried look on his face … Irwin then stated that he would return to find her the week she was at work.”

Marriott goes on to say that another employee approached Irwin after the victim left, and that “after Irwin finished looking at the victim and turned to employee 1, he said out loud, ‘she’s bad’, ‘she’s bad…’ sexual comment.

He then “slapped himself in the face three times saying, ‘Hold on, Mike.'”

Irwin’s lawyer, Levi McCathern, said Friday the allegations are “nonsense” and “none of this is supported by witnesses,” referring to the men who took part in Wednesday’s press conference who said they were close to the interaction.

“In general, I heard laughter, looked up, shook hands, laughed again and parted,” recalled Phil Watkins.

“They had a very short interaction, which was very friendly, a lot of laughter,” said Bryn Davis.

Marriott is asking the judge to set limits on what can be said publicly in the case, specifically referring to comments made at a press conference this week.

“It makes me sick, because in this great country, it takes me back to the time when a white man, a white woman blamed a black man for something, and they took a bunch of guys who were above the law and resorted to them. barn, wrap a rope around his leg, drag him through the mud and hang him from a tree,” Irwin said.

Irving is suing Marriott for $100 million in libel.

The point of contention at that press conference was that Marriott’s lawyers only allowed Irwin’s side to view the video of the interaction with security, not copy it.

On Friday, the judge agreed with Irwin’s team and ordered Marriott to hand over a copy by 5 p.m.

Irwin’s lawyer said he would release the video, but hasn’t decided when.

Marriott disputes how Irwin’s lawyer described what happened in the video.