Ousted Texans heir Cary McNair sues NFL for tortious interference
The invitation to engage in mediation apparently was not accepted.
On Friday, attorney Tony Buzbee announced that his firm has filed a lawsuit in New York state court on behalf of Robert "Cary" McNair Jr. against the NFL.
The civil complaint seeks more than $100 million from the league for alleged tortious interference with contract.
From the press release: "The filing stems from an alleged conspiracy between Houston Texans Owner's Rep Cal McNair and the NFL wherein the NFL allegedly worked to unseat Cary McNair from his position on the trust board that owns the Texans, and from his position as CEO of the billion-dollar investment arm of the McNair family, McNair Interests. The alleged reason for the NFL's interference was Cary McNair's repeated and incessant questions and critiques about the multiple scandals involving the Houston Texans football team."
From Buzbee himself: "We allege that Cary McNair had the courage to voice his concerns about important management issues regarding serious, high-profile scandals involving the Houston Texans. We believe the evidence will be clear and overwhelming that the NFL intervened in the McNair family business to remove Cary McNair from his position as CEO, in an effort to silence Cary McNair. He won't be silenced."
In a September 8 letter to Commissioner Roger Goodell, Buzbee explained the concerns that had been raised.
Specifically, Cary McNair spoke out about the Deshaun Watson scandal and questioned the Texans' handling of it," Buzbee wrote. "He also inquired about why the Texans paid to settle thirty Deshaun Watson cases within months of them being filed, without any investigation or putting up a fight at all. Cary McNair also questioned the leadership of the Texans (Cal McNair was ostensibly in charge at the time, even though Janice McNair was the named Owner's Rep) about what was known, and when it was known. Cary McNair wondered aloud how the Texans could claim ignorance of the Watson situation when the organization itself provided rooms and massage tables for Watson's use. When Cary McNair raised these serious issues, he was repeatedly silenced."
Buzbee's letter also addressed the sexual assault scandal involving minority owner Javier Loya, and it attacked Cal McNair's fitness to run the Texans.
The case will proceed, presumably with an initial effort by the NFL to force the case into arbitration ultimately controlled by Goodell. That's the league's default reaction to every lawsuit in which any plausible argument can be made that a case should not play out in open court, with the media (and in turn the public) having access to information that would otherwise remain private.