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Michael Irvin is suing Marriott, again.
In case you’ve been out of the loop, Irvin’s beef with the hospitality giant comes after an alleged misconduct incident at one of its properties during Super Bowl weekend in Phoenix.
NFL Network pulled Irvin from its Super Bowl coverage following the allegations.
Witnesses quickly leapt to the defense of the Pro Football Hall of Famer. And Irvin has since taken to the courts to try to clear his name.
Irvin’s legal team dropped the $100 million suit against Marriott in federal court on Tuesday. But A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports reports that it then refiled the suit in Arizona state court.
The new lawsuit filed in a Maricopa County court not only includes Marriott, but adds Renaissance Hotel Operating Company and four employees — including the unnamed accuser — as defendants. The latest lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages.
“Through [the defendants’] improper conduct described above, they intentionally interfered with Mr. Irvin’s valuable business expectancies,” the new lawsuit states. “[The defendants] improperly took direct measures to scar Mr. Irvin’s reputation, which had a direct and detrimental effect on his livelihood, business relationships and prospective engagements and caused him humiliation and emotional distress. Defendants accomplished this result through unfair and wrongful means.”
In a news conference last week, Irvin compared Marriott’s actions that led him to be taken off NFL Network along with a scheduled appearance on ESPN’s “First Take” the Friday before the Super Bowl to lynching. – via Front Office Sports
Video released on Tuesday showed Irvin having a nearly 90-second interaction with the accuser before they go their separate ways.
Here are the key parts of the video that were just made public by Irvin's attorney, Levi McCathern. (Video captured from @fox4) pic.twitter.com/cl550jiTA9
— A.J. Perez (@byajperez) March 14, 2023
Irvin has maintained his innocence throughout the process, though he was never charged with a crime.
“What was most important for me was to find out that I’m OK,” Irvin said. ” “I want to make sure I’m OK for my family and everything, so I just wanted to see it. Whether I work again or not, I don’t I don’t know. I don’t know what’ll happen with all of that. But what I had to know was what are we talking about [is Marriott is] saying I assaulted [the employee].
“I hope it shows … the truth. Like we used to say when we played football, ‘the eye in the sky don’t tell no lie.’”
The former Dallas Cowboys star turned 57 in early March. Irvin has worked in media on and off since retiring in 1999.