Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon used to grab his assistant’s crotch without her consent, mandated that she sleep in his bed during business trips, and drugged her drink during a business trip in Mexico “because he thought she was not ‘having fun,’” according to a lawsuit filed this week by the former assistant in a California court. The lawsuit was filed Monday in Orange County Superior Court. As of Wednesday afternoon, Moon’s publicist had not released any comment on it.
The woman, 32-year-old Wendy Haskell, was hired as the 61-year-old Moon’s executive assistant in July. She says in the lawsuit that “Moon had a dark and twisted side that commanded far more than just executive assistant services from his newly hired employee.” The lawsuit goes on to say this about Haskell’s time working as an assistant at the Sports 1 Marketing, where Moon is still listed as president on the website:
Soon after she began her employment, Moon demanded Ms. Haskell submit to a variety of unnerving sexual and perverse controlling arrangements, including sleeping in the same bed with him on all business trips, providing him unfettered access to the bathroom every time she showered, wearing skimpy lingerie while in the obligatory single room, obtaining prior approval for her wardrobe, and being subjected to continuous unwanted and unsolicited sexual advances.
The lawsuit says that, on Oct. 6, Haskell told Moon that “while she loved working at S1M, she was very uncomfortable with the travel sleeping arrangements and shower protocol.” Moon replied, according to the lawsuit, that “if she wasn’t ‘comfortable’ with it, or him, then she could not work for him.” The lawsuit continues:
Later that evening after dinner with some of the company’s officers, when dropping Ms. Haskell off at her home, Moon claimed he had to use the bathroom. After purportedly doing so, Moon approached Ms. Haskell and tried to remove her clothing. She stopped him and asked him to leave.
Three days later, Haskell reported Moon’s behavior—the dress code, sleeping arrangements, touching, and unwanted sexual advances—to the company’s CEO, David Melzer, according to the lawsuit. Meltzer told her to go with Moon on an upcoming trip to Cabo as planned. The lawsuit describes the trip as little more than pretext for Moon to harass women:
After the trip, Haskell says in her lawsuit that she was demoted to a position where she made “significantly” less money, and suffered emotional distress and humiliation at work. She was also asked to sign a new employment agreement along with a Non-Disclosure Agreement, which she declined to do. The lawsuit is written in the past tense, but doesn’t explicitly say when or how Haskell left the company.
Moon, who won a Rose Bowl with the University of Washington and then played 17 seasons in the NFL before retiring in 2000, was sued in 1995 by a Vikings cheerleader who accused him of sexual assault. That same year, he was arrested for hitting and choking his wife. He was charged, but later acquitted when his wife said she had provoked the fight.
Haskell’s full lawsuit is below.
Update (8:55 p.m. ET): Moon has requested a leave of absence from his position with the Seahawks broadcast team.
Update (Thursday 10:11 a.m. ET): Moon’s lawyer, Daniel Fears, released a statement saying his client denies the allegations.
Warren Moon has yet to be served with the lawsuit filed by Wendy Haskell, but he is aware of the claims contained in it. Mr. Moon denies the claims by Ms. Haskell. Mr. Moon contends these claims are meritless, and he has every intention to vigorously defend himself in court.
Mr. Moon recognizes that his duties as a commentator on the Seattle Seahawks radio network will be impacted as he defends himself against these claims, and he has requested a temporary leave of absence from his duties with the Seahawks, which has been granted.