SHERMAN, Texas — For the first time Friday, Marriott unveiled specific details about a female employee’s accusation against Michael Irvin in a hotel-lobby conversation that occurred in Phoenix last month, the account portraying the former Cowboys wide receiver’s actions as drunken and at times aggressive flirtation that included a lewd comment.
Marriott disclosed the account in a motion filed in federal court. According to the document, which The Dallas Morning News obtained, Irvin “flagged down” the woman, who is a staffer at Renaissance Phoenix Downtown, on Feb. 5 while she walked from the lobby’s bar area in the normal course of her job.
Irvin asked what she did for work, told her he found her attractive, shook her hand and introduced himself as Michael, according to the document. When she said that she didn’t follow the NFL, he directed her to search his name on the internet sometime.
“Irvin also reached out and touched the Victim’s arm during this conversation without her consent, causing her to step back, becoming visibly uncomfortable,” Marriott attorney Nathan Chapman wrote in the document. “Irvin then asked the Victim whether she knew anything about having a ‘big Black man inside of [her].’ Taken aback by Irvin’s comments, the Victim responded that his comments were inappropriate, and she did not wish to discuss it further.
“Irvin then attempted to grab the Victim’s hand again and said he was ‘sorry if he brought up bad memories’ for her.’ The Victim pulled her hand away and tried to back away from Irvin as he continued to move towards her.”
According to the document, two Marriott coworkers noticed the woman appeared uncomfortable. As they approached her and Irvin, Irvin made a comment that “security” noticed him and offered a parting handshake.
“Seeing that other Hotel employees were in the area and wanting the interaction to end, the Victim returned Irvin’s handshake,” Marriott said in the filing. “Irvin then stated that he would come back to find her sometime that week when she was working.”
Irvin’s attorney Levi McCathern refuted the details from Marriott.
“Total hogwash,” McCathern said in a statement to The News. “Marriott’s recently created account goes against all the eyewitnesses and Michael’s own testimony as well as common sense. We will release the video next week. There is no sexual assault. The fact Marriott is taking the position that it is is an insult to all of the true female victims out there.
“I was shocked by Marriott’s prior handling of this situation. I am now disgusted and appalled. I wish trial was tomorrow, so Michael could clear his name and get the compensation he deserves for Marriott’s reckless disregard for the truth.”
Last month, Irvin filed a $100 million lawsuit against Marriott for defamation and tortious interference in a business relationship. Irvin has argued that Marriott never interviewed him about the incident or the three men whom his agent produced as witnesses; they were in the lobby at the time, having just taken photographs with Irvin outside the hotel.
NFL Network and ESPN suspended Irvin from their Super Bowl-week coverage after Marriott informed the NFL about the incident.
In the same court filing Friday, Marriott also provided an account of what occurred following the interaction between Irvin and the female staffer. According to Marriott, Irvin “leered” at the woman while she walked away. A second employee, referred to as “Employee 1,” then approached Irvin.
“After Irvin finished leering at the Victim and turned back to Employee 1, he said aloud ‘she bad,’ ‘she bad,’ ‘I want to hit that,’ and slapped himself in the face three times, saying, ‘Keep it together, Mike,’ ” Marriott wrote in the document.
That evening, the female staffer informed a coworker about her conversation with Irvin, and the coworker noticed she appeared “visibly shaken,” per Marriott. The female staffer reported Irvin’s comments to her manager “as soon as she arrived at work the next day.”
The female staffer then handwrote a summary of her conversation with Irvin, and the hotel’s director of operations interviewed her.
One important part of Irvin’s complaint is that Marriott informed the NFL about the accusation, leading to the cancellation of his Super Bowl-week appearances. According to Friday’s court filing, one day before the Feb. 5 incident, the NFL requested Marriott to notify it if any issues arose involving any employees booked at the property. Marriott cited “the NFL’s prior direction” for the director of operations making contact with the league.
Marriott described Irvin as “visibly intoxicated” when he returned to the Renaissance following dinner.
Irvin has previously acknowledged he consumed alcohol at dinner with a former Cowboys teammate. He also told The News that he did not fully recall every detail from his conversation with the woman. No criminal complaint was received about the matter, a Phoenix police spokesperson told The News days after the incident.
The details in Marriott’s court motion came on a busy Friday that saw Irvin’s attorneys win a weekslong tug-of-war against the hotel chain for a copy of the lobby encounter’s surveillance footage. At a court hearing, U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant said Marriott “blatantly” violated his previous order to give Irvin the video.
In what he termed a “sanction,” Mazzant required Marriott to send an unredacted video of the incident to Irvin’s representation by 5 p.m. Friday. No protective order was placed over the recording despite Marriott’s request in court Friday for one, effectively allowing Irvin to release the video to the public.
“That’s the penalty you face,” U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant said Friday to Marriott attorneys.
Mazzant scolded Marriott in the Eastern District courthouse, saying he was “dumbfounded” with its non-compliance to an order he gave last week. It required Marriott to “provide” Irvin “any and all video recordings, written summaries and/or witness statements” involving his hotel stay at the Renaissance.
The deadline to produce the evidence was 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Marriott delivered documents to McCathern on Monday and allowed him to watch a video of the lobby conversation Tuesday. But McCathern was not given a video copy, was told he couldn’t record the video, and Marriott attorneys were present in the room when he watched it.
In an email The News obtained, Chapman informed McCathern days earlier of those restrictions, which included that no more than three people would be allowed into the office to view the video. During the hearing, Mazzant criticized Marriott for placing its own “conditions” on how the video would be produced.
“I am not accustomed to, as a judge, people violating my orders,” Mazzant said.
Celeste Creswell, a Dallas-based lawyer, spoke most prominently on Marriott’s behalf during the hearing, which Irvin did not attend.
She argued in court that the restrictions placed Tuesday on the video’s production were done in interpretation of Mazzant’s order, citing an excerpt that allowed Marriott to “take reasonable measures to protect the employee’s identity as necessary at this early stage of the case.”
Creswell said that Renaissance Phoenix Downtown has reported people visiting the hotel, asking for Jane Doe and the surveillance video. A voicemail also was left, Creswell said, in which the caller threatened to burn down the hotel. When explaining why Marriott does not want the video to be public, she expressed concern for the legal process and the people shown in the lobby.
Creswell later said that Marriott respects the court’s orders.
“I’ll be very candid,” Mazzant said in response. “You haven’t shown that. That’s the reason we’re here. ... Am I happy about that? No, I’m not happy about that. ... It seems like Marriott just looked at my order and didn’t want to produce the video.”
Creswell declined comment to questions The News asked after court adjourned.
McCathern was more talkative, describing himself as “very happy, almost ecstatic” with the ruling.
“Everybody who views [the video] will see what I’ve seen and what the witnesses who were there have seen,” McCathern said. “Michael didn’t do anything wrong.”
The video Marriott showed to McCathern on Tuesday blurred the woman’s face.
Mazzant’s order called for the video to be produced “without modification.”
Irvin, McCathern and Irvin’s agent Steve Mandell held a news briefing Wednesday at which Irvin became emotional. Irvin said Wednesday he feels conflicted on how to engage people who approach him in public. Three men have told The News that Irvin was taking photographs with them outside the hotel before he spoke with the woman.
Each reported not noticing anything inappropriate between Irvin and the woman. They did not stand directly beside Irvin during his conversation with her.
“Do I not talk to people?” Irvin said. “What do I do? ...I know I didn’t do anything wrong, and I was trying to do everything right. Though I say that, I come back to this moment: Had I not said to these guys, ‘You know what? You’re cool guys. Let’s go outside and take that picture,’ then they wouldn’t have been there right there with me.
“That would have been a moment that I would have had alone, and I know nobody’s going to listen to what I say. Nobody still, at least Marriott, don’t want to hear to what we have to say, don’t want to hear what I have to say.”
