Getty Image / Roding Eckenroth
Big news broke during Super Bowl week in the Phoenix Metro Area when NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver and analyst Michael Irvin was accused of wrongdoing by a Marriott employee at the hotel he was staying at. This caused Irvin to be pulled off of television and suffer a lot of embarrassment.
So, the former Cowboy star filed suit against Marriott for $100 million. And, it seems to be going well. Here’s an excerpt from a previous BroBible article.
Michael Irvin just scored a win in court … a judge has ordered that an Arizona hotel now must turn over any video it has of an interaction the Hall of Famer had with a woman that ultimately led to his removal from NFL Network’s Super Bowl coverage last week.
Irvin’s attorney Levi McCathern had requested the footage from the Phoenix Marriott in a motion filed on Thursday morning, believing it will help exonerate the NFL legend, who had been accused of wrongdoing while he was in Arizona to report on SB LVII for the league’s TV station.
On Thursday afternoon, a judge granted the motion … saying the clips must be sent to Irvin by Feb. 20.
But, Marriott has responded.
Marriott responds to Michael Irvin's lawsuit, arguing that it doesn't own the hotel where the incident with an employee allegedly occurred — and suggesting that Irvin made "harassing and inappropriate comments." https://t.co/XjO9sfp82Q
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) February 27, 2023
Here are some details courtesy of that article.
Marriott argues that it doesn’t own the Phoenix hotel at which Irvin engaged in some type of alleged wrongdoing, prompting a complaint to NFL Network and, in turn, Irvin’s removal from Super Bowl-week programming. Instead, Marriott says it only “leases its brand” to the owner of the property.
That may not matter. The hotel is a Marriott location. It’s hard to imagine Marriott avoiding responsibility based on the technical legal relationship between the corporation and the actual owner/operator of the hotel, especially if the hotel identifies itself as a Marriott property.
The paperwork filed by Marriott also sheds light for the first time on the specific allegation made against Irvin. Via Kaplan, Marriott claims that Irvin made “harassing and inappropriate comments.”
Seems pretty flimsy to me. I always try to root for the little guy, and Irvin is the little guy here, so good for him.