Michael Irvin’s legal team stepped up its pursuit of video footage of Irvin’s interaction with a Phoenix hotel employee, one that a Texas state judge ordered to be released.
“Irvin deserves to see the security footage that has led to the derailment of his livelihood and continues to inflict harm upon him so that he may seek to exonerate himself with the NFL and be reinstated on the NFL Network,” attorney Levi McCathern wrote in a motion for expedited discovery that was made public on Wednesday.
Irvin was accused of misconduct by an employee at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel — a Marriott property — on Feb. 5, a week before Super Bowl LVII.
The original complaint — where Irvin seeks $100 million in damages — was filed in Collin County, Texas, court. According to the filing, a judge granted an expedited discovery and set a Monday deadline for Marriott to turn over the requested footage.
On the same day, McCathern wrote Marriott “filed its notice of removal essentially nullifying the State Court’s order.” The lawsuit is currently in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
The former Dallas Cowboys great was evicted from the hotel the morning after the alleged incident, according to the lawsuit.
“Little did Irvin know, [Marriott] had also contacted his employer—the NFL—to further embarrass and defame him,” McCathern wrote in the filing. “The NFL responded by immediately removing Irvin from all scheduled programming surrounding the Super Bowl on NFL Network and ESPN.
“Despite Irvin’s diligent efforts, he has been unable to ascertain who specifically made these allegations to the NFL and why they were reported to the NFL without any further investigation by [Marriott].”
In its response filed in Collin County, Marriott explained why it’s under no legal obligation to provide the video to Irvin or his legal team.
Marriott’s counsel wrote that Irvin’s request for expedited discovery for the video “is overly broad, unduly burdensome, irrelevant, vague and ambiguous.”
Irvin’s attorneys submitted affidavits produced by a private detective agency with statements from three witnesses who were near the site of the alleged incident at the time it took place.
- One “observed a female waitress or employee from the bar” approach Irvin. The interaction lasted 45 seconds or less and “seemed jovial.”
- Another witness stated that Irvin had “a short conversation” with the employee and “did not notice anything unusual or did not see anyone acting upset.”
- The third witness said the interaction between Irvin and the employee “seemed jovial” and added “he “did not observe any reaction from the waitress…indicating nothing stuck out as a traumatic event.”
