Brett Favre Sued For Sexual Harassment

[2112]

Two team massage therapists—yeah, these two—have sued Favre and the Jets for sexual harassment. The women claim he propositioned them via text message (for a threesome), and weren't re-hired by the Jets after they complained. And here we go.

Good Morning America has the exclusive, and it's pretty much what we expected. Christina Scavo and Shannon O'Toole filed suit in New York State Supreme Court today, claiming that their time working for the Jets in 2008 was filled with aggressive approaches by Favre, who treated them like a "hanging slab of meat."

Text messages they allege were sent from Favre include messages like "Brett here, you and Crissy want to get together, I'm all alone," and "Kinda lonely tonight, I guess I have bad intentions." As we reported in October, Scavo's husband confronted Favre and asked for an apology. Joseph Scavo says Favre refused, and his wife and O'Toole came under fire from the woman in charge of hiring the team's massage therapists.

Lisa Ripi, who we highlighted as "the muscle" in the incident, allegedly told Scavo that the matter should be handled internally, and not taken to the press—or the courts. Ripi is named as a defendant alongside Favre and the Jets.

The suit, which seeks unspecified damages, says that the Jets fostered "a hotbed of sexual harassment, sexism and inappropriate behavior."

Elizabeth Eilender, the attorney for Scavo and O'Toole, has been in contact with most major news organizations since our report was originally published. But the filing of this lawsuit has caught everyone, including us, completely by surprise. It appears that GMA landed the exclusive, with enough time to prepare a written report complete with statements and follow-up questions, to publish simultaneously with the lawsuit. And a package on tomorrow's Good Morning America, of course. It appears they were willing to pay the highest "licensing fee."

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[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Pawnmower

since theyre gonna sue favre for saying "im lonely" on a text message, ill go out on a limb and assume theyre both whores

They were just there to do their jobs. It sounds like those were two of many text messages Favre sent. If that's the case, then that's harassment. I have several female friends who are trainers or work for sports teams. They are not whores. And if they got sexual texts from players that they didn't want to deal with, they have every right to be upset. Especially if they're married and don't want their husband to get upset about their job. Especially if they lose their job for it.

I don't know all the facts. You don't either. In my book, if you call someone a whore, you better be damn sure about it. One asshole shouldn't make a girl's job uncomfortable because he brought sex into the workplace. And an organization shouldn't go out of the way to accommodate that asshole. So far, we've learned that the Jets had no control over the locker room as they harassed Ines Sainz. They invaded Jenn Sterger's privacy by stealing her cell phone # and provided it to a player who asked for it. And according to this allegation, they got mad at employees who complained about a player making sexual advances.

If this were the real world, this would be handled differently and the Jets would have an expensive lawsuit on their hands. As it stands, this is an NFL team and players are allowed to be above the rules, even at the expense of other people.

[Ming the Merciless]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

It sounds like those were two of many text messsages....
I don't know all the facts. You don't either.

1) if those are the worst of the text messages....then it is clear they are just looking for a pay day

2) one fact i know is that if this wasnt brett favre/ jets, if it was joe schmoe/non deep pockets/ non 'spotlight', they wouldnt have sued. so please take your 'real world' idea and apply it.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Pawnmower

1) if those are the worst of the text messages....then it is clear they are just looking for a pay day

2) one fact i know is that if this wasnt brett favre, if it was joe schmoe, they wouldnt have sued. so please take your 'real world' idea and apply it.

1) If they were two of many, that's harassment. Sex isn't supposed to be brought into the workplace if one party is uncomfortable about it, let alone repeatedly.

2) If this were the real world and an employee was texting propositions (especially to married women), they probably wouldn't sue, but would probably report it to HR and have that person fired. If the organization fired her, regardless of whether she was an employee or contractor, for complaining, then she would sue the organization and win.

I'm not a lawyer. But this is all common sense. Again, we have to see what the full accusation is.

[Ming the Merciless]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

1) If they were two of many, that's harassment. Sex isn't supposed to be brought into the workplace if one party is uncomfortable about it, let alone repeatedly.

2) If this were the real world and an employee was texting propositions (especially to married women), they probably wouldn't sue, but would probably report it to HR and have that person fired. If the organization fired her, regardless of whether she was an employee or contractor, for complaining, then she would sue the organization and win.

I'm not a lawyer. But this is all common sense. Again, we have to see what the full accusation is.

they werent employees..clearly stated in the artcle

Originally Posted by Pawnmower

2) one fact i know is that if this wasnt brett favre/ jets, if it was joe schmoe/non deep pockets/ non 'spotlight', they wouldnt have sued.

Holy hell, you're qualified to be a lawyer. If there's no money, no lawsuit. You're brilliant.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Pawnmower

they werent employees..clearly stated in the artcle

It doesn't matter if she's a contractor or an employee. That only means she can't sue for workplace sexual harassment. It's still illegal in New Jersey for a business to refuse a person business because they didn't cave in to sexual advances. Interestingly, this doesn't seem to be a suit about harassment so much as it is about them losing business because they complained about harassment. And given that she was paid directly by the Jets and they had the discretion to fire or hire her, I think there's plenty of reason to believe an employee-employer like relationship existed here.

From what I've seen, the texts weren't that bad. The response was inappropriate. Sounds like they got these texts, rightfully complained to the Jets about it (apparently the husband confronted Favre about it and a Jets employee herself acknowledge that Favre was a "pervert"), then suddenly they were no longer contracted. Afterward, a member of the Jets' org. is on record telling the masseuses that Favre was a pervert and that they were wrong to pursue a lawsuit, stating that they should have brought it to her attention so they could have handled it under the table.

I don't know if it's winnable. But it's a more than legit complaint, if these things were true, which it sounds like they are.

[stevieray]

There's Something About Brett.

[TimeForWasp]

I can't believe Favre is still married after all this shit.

[Consistent1]

The timing of all this stuff, including Sterger is just odd to me. I'm not a big Favre advocate at all, but you can't tell me that players, one would think younger dudes especially, don't do this type of shit a whole lot. Why Favre, why now? He has played two years in another city at this point.

[Over-Head]

Originally Posted by ChiefsNow

I can't believe Favre is still married after all this shit.

He's worth more to her married then her pre nup, besides she's probably got him by the short hairs now so tight he cant think stright anyway

[memyselfI]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

They were just there to do their jobs. It sounds like those were two of many text messages Favre sent. If that's the case, then that's harassment. I have several female friends who are trainers or work for sports teams. They are not whores. And if they got sexual texts from players that they didn't want to deal with, they have every right to be upset. Especially if they're married and don't want their husband to get upset about their job. Especially if they lose their job for it.

I don't know all the facts. You don't either. In my book, if you call someone a whore, you better be damn sure about it. One asshole shouldn't make a girl's job uncomfortable because he brought sex into the workplace. And an organization shouldn't go out of the way to accommodate that asshole. So far, we've learned that the Jets had no control over the locker room as they harassed Ines Sainz. They invaded Jenn Sterger's privacy by stealing her cell phone # and provided it to a player who asked for it. And according to this allegation, they got mad at employees who complained about a player making sexual advances.

If this were the real world, this would be handled differently and the Jets would have an expensive lawsuit on their hands. As it stands, this is an NFL team and players are allowed to be above the rules, even at the expense of other people.

This.

Like.

[Iowanian]

You know, there is part of this crap that pisses me off.


Why is it illegal or worthy of a lawsuit to ask?
It doesn't appear that he was overtly grotesque or nasty. He simply asked them to come up because he was lonely? Who can blame a guy for asking a couple of gals to double up on him? Over the years, I'd wager I've asked 1000 girls for similar acts, and probably more bluntly.

I don't see "harassment" unless they say no thank you and he repeatedly asks them or threatens them. A man is almost obligated to ask twice, because part of the woman's natural process is to pretend they're too nice to do that the first time.

yes, he's married and a rat bastard for that....but I doubt he's the first guy in their career to ask for a happy ending. He should have known better at work. If he asked them at work...it's one thing, if he texted them later....

[Chiefnj2]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

You know, there is part of this crap that pisses me off.


Why is it illegal or worthy of a lawsuit to ask?
It doesn't appear that he was overtly grotesque or nasty. He simply asked them to come up because he was lonely? Who can blame a guy for asking a couple of gals to double up on him? Over the years, I'd wager I've asked 1000 girls for similar acts, and probably more bluntly.

I don't see "harassment" unless they say no thank you and he repeatedly asks them or threatens them. A man is almost obligated to ask twice, because part of the woman's natural process is to pretend they're too nice to do that the first time.

yes, he's married and a rat bastard for that....but I doubt he's the first guy in their career to ask for a happy ending. He should have known better at work. If he asked them at work...it's one thing, if he texted them later....

I think the lawsuit is primarily aimed at the Jets organization. They probably don't have a case against Favre for asking, but might have a case against the organization for failing to hire them after they reported what happened.

[Over-Head]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

You know, there is part of this crap that pisses me off.


Why is it illegal or worthy of a lawsuit to ask?
It doesn't appear that he was overtly grotesque or nasty. He simply asked them to come up because he was lonely? Who can blame a guy for asking a couple of gals to double up on him? Over the years, I'd wager I've asked 1000 girls for similar acts, and probably more bluntly.

I don't see "harassment" unless they say no thank you and he repeatedly asks them or threatens them. A man is almost obligated to ask twice, because part of the woman's natural process is to pretend they're too nice to do that the first time.

yes, he's married and a rat bastard for that....but I doubt he's the first guy in their career to ask for a happy ending. He should have known better at work. If he asked them at work...it's one thing, if he texted them later....

THIS

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

You know, there is part of this crap that pisses me off.


Why is it illegal or worthy of a lawsuit to ask?
It doesn't appear that he was overtly grotesque or nasty. He simply asked them to come up because he was lonely? Who can blame a guy for asking a couple of gals to double up on him? Over the years, I'd wager I've asked 1000 girls for similar acts, and probably more bluntly.

I don't see "harassment" unless they say no thank you and he repeatedly asks them or threatens them. A man is almost obligated to ask twice, because part of the woman's natural process is to pretend they're too nice to do that the first time.

yes, he's married and a rat bastard for that....but I doubt he's the first guy in their career to ask for a happy ending. He should have known better at work. If he asked them at work...it's one thing, if he texted them later....

They are claiming that they lost their jobs because they turned down Favre's advances.