A California woman has filed a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment and battery against former Edmonton Eskimos star quarterback Warren Moon.
The lawsuit, obtained by The Canadian Press, was filed Monday in Orange County, Calif. It names Moon and his company, Sports 1 Marketing, as defendants.
Wendy Haskell, a former executive assistant to Moon at Sports 1 Marketing, alleges in the lawsuit that Moon required her to wear skimpy lingerie, share his bed during business trips and made unwanted sexual advances.
Haskell also alleges in the documents that Moon grabbed her crotch while she was sleeping on a recent business trip in Seattle.
The Canadian Press does not normally name alleged victims of sexual assault, but Fitzgerald & Isaacson, the law firm representing Haskell, said its client had agreed to go public.
None of the allegations have been proven in court. Sports 1 Marketing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Moon is currently an analyst on the Seattle Seahawks’ radio network. A Seahawks spokesperson released a statement on their Twitter account Wednesday night saying that they’ve accepted Moon’s request for a leave of absence.
Moon, 61, spent his entire CFL career with Edmonton and won five consecutive Grey Cups from 1978-1982. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2001. The Eskimos said in an email that they had no comment.
Moon went on to play 17 seasons in the National Football League with Houston, Minnesota, Seattle and Kansas City.
He appeared in nine Pro Bowls and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.
According to the lawsuit, Haskell was hired as an executive assistant to Moon in the summer of 2017.
The lawsuit claims that Haskell reported Moon’s behaviour to Sports 1 Marketing CEO David Meltzer but the company did not investigate her claims. Haskell claims she was demoted after making the complaints.
— with files from The Associated Press
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