Michael Irvin’s attorney is ‘mad as hell’ over Marriott’s refusal to share inside surveillance footage of misconduct allegations in $100m defamation lawsuit: ‘They’re hiding this stuff that is relevant to my client’s livelihood’
Michael Irvin’s attorney has revealed his frustration over a standoff that has come up in his client’s $100million defamation lawsuit against Marriott International after a female employee accused the Hall of Famer of misconduct during Super Bowl week.
In a statement sent to The Dallas Morning News on Tuesday, Levi McCather, who is representing the former Cowboys player, said he is ‘mad as hell’ that footage of an alleged incident in Arizona has not yet been released.
A judge gave the hotel chain until February 20 to hand over surveillance footage.
‘I’m mad as hell that they’re hiding this stuff that is so relevant to my client’s livelihood,’ said McCathern, a Dallas-based attorney specializing in catastrophic damage and commercial litigation.
‘I think it is terrible they’re doing that. I don’t know what’s on the video. None of us have gotten to see it. But I sure think that, at a minimum, Michael has got a right to see the video.’
Michael Irvin was stripped of Super Bowl media duties with NFL Network follwing the incident
Texas attorney Levi McCather is ‘mad as hell’ that Marriott hasn’t released surveillance video
Marriott ‘gave a lengthy explanation as to why it wouldn’t provide each item,’ per The Dallas Morning News. McCathern has further pushed for the footage to be released by Tuesday but those efforts ‘were in vain.’
Marriott International was initially ‘asked to produce any written reports and/or witness statements involving Irvin’s stay at the Phoenix hotel,’ according to court documents obtained by The Morning-News.
Marriott International was also asked by Irvin’s legal team to retrieve the names and contact information of any of its employees ‘who made a complaint’ against Irvin, alleged to have been offended by Irvin’s conduct or who contact the NFL about his conduct.’
The three-time Super Bowl champion was accused of sexual wrongdoing at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel a week before the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles in Glendale, Arizona.
Irvin was taken off the NFL Network’s Super Bowl 2023 coverage in the wake of the allegations.
In his lawsuit, Irvin claims that he and the unidentified woman had a 45-second conversation and ‘casually exchanged pleasantries’ before shaking her hand and going to his room alone
Irvin is a three-time Super Bowl champion with the Cowboys (pictured after Super Bowl 1993)
The five-time Pro-Bowler previously maintained his innocence to The Morning News, claiming that he engaged in a ’45-second conversation’ with the unidentified woman in the lobby of the Marriott hotel, before going back alone to his room.
On Monday, Irvin’s lawsuit was removed from Collin County. Instead, it has been moved to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division, turning it into a federal case.
Aside from defamation, Irvin is taking Marriott to court for wrongful interference in a business relationship.
The lawsuit’s filing stated that Marriott employees ‘inaccurately and inflammatorily’ accused Irvin of misconduct to the NFL in aim to cancel the football star.
Since being entangled in litigation, Marriott has banned Irvin from all its properties.