DALLAS — The lead attorney representing former Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin expressed frustration Tuesday over a stalemate that has emerged in Irvin’s $100 million defamation lawsuit against Marriott International, saying the hotel chain has yet to provide key evidence that he believes could help clear his client’s name.
Last Friday, a Collin County judge issued a Monday deadline for Marriott to respond to a request from Irvin’s legal team for various documentation and information related to a Feb. 5 incident between Irvin and a female employee at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel. The woman complained about Irvin’s conduct, leading Irvin to be escorted from the hotel property the next morning and both NFL Network and ESPN to pull him from Super Bowl-week appearances.
The encounter occurred one week before the Kansas City Chiefs’ win over the Philadelphia Eagles in nearby Glendale, Ariz.
Levi McCathern, a Dallas-based attorney who filed the Feb. 9 lawsuit on Irvin’s behalf, said Monday’s deadline came and went without Marriott producing any of the materials requested. Instead, Marriott gave a lengthy explanation as to why it wouldn’t provide each item. He said additional attempts to procure the security video Tuesday were in vain.
An attorney who represents Marriott did not respond Tuesday to an email requesting comment.
“I’m mad as hell that they’re hiding this stuff that is so relevant to my client’s livelihood,” McCarthern said in a phone interview. “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.”
Irvin and three witnesses recently told The Dallas Morning News that Irvin and the woman spoke in the hotel lobby for no longer than a minute. They shook hands during the interaction. Irvin walked alone to his hotel room, and the woman resumed her shift. The exact nature of her accusation is not known.
Marriott has declined or not responded to several requests for comment since the lawsuit’s filing, and Phoenix police did not receive a complaint about Irvin’s behavior immediately after or in the days following the incident.
On Monday, Marriott had the lawsuit removed from Collin County to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division.
Judge Amos L. Mazzant III is assigned the case.
One of Mazzant’s first decisions could be how soon Marriott provides the surveillance footage. The video is the main expedited discovery item that McCarthern hoped to receive by Monday at 5 p.m.
According to a court document The News obtained, Marriott also was asked to produce any written reports and/or witness statements involving Irvin’s stay at the Phoenix hotel. In addition, Irvin’s legal team sought the name and contact information of any Marriott employee who made a complaint against Irvin, alleged to have been offended by Irvin’s conduct or who contacted the NFL about his conduct. Lastly, they requested the names of anyone at the NFL whom Marriott contacted about Irvin.
Along with defamation, Irvin is suing Marriott for wrongful interference in a business relationship. The lawsuit’s original petition accused Marriott employees of “inaccurately and inflammatorily” accusing Irvin of misconduct to the NFL in an attempt to “cancel” him. Marriott also banned Irvin from all its properties, according to the document.
