NFL Network files response to sexual harassment suit

CULVER CITY, Calif. (UPI) — The NFL Network filed a response to a sexual harassment lawsuit that led to the suspension of three analysts, claiming the former employee who alleged lewd conduct “consented” to the inappropriate behavior, according to a published report. In answering the charges filed in the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court in October, NFL Enterprises — the head of NFL Network — denied the claims and said Jami Cantor “approved, consented to, authorized, and/or ratified” the sexually charged behavior, TMZ reported. The lawsuit led to the suspension of Pro Football Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk and fellow analysts Heath Evans and Ike Taylor pending an investigation. Cantor, who worked as a wardrobe stylist with the company from 2006 until she was fired in October 2016, alleged age and sex discrimination, sexual harassment and hostile work environment, and wrongful termination, among other complaints. Former NFL Network executive Eric Weinberger, ex-NFL Network analyst Donovan McNabb and former NFL player Eric Davis were also named in the lawsuit. Warren Sapp, a former network analyst, also was named in the suit but he was fired in 2015 following an arrest for assault and soliciting prostitution. In her lawsuit, Cantor claims that Faulk fondled her breasts, groped her behind and asked Cantor “deeply personal and invasive questions” about her sex life. Cantor also said she received inappropriate and sexually explicit texts from Evans, McNabb, Taylor and Weinberger. “The supervisors knew about it, the supervisors observed it,” Cantor’s lawyer, Laura Horton, said in an interview with the New York Times. “It was insidious in this particular environment.” In its response to the allegations, NFL Enterprises said any concerns brought up by Cantor had been properly addressed during her tenure with the network.