PHOENIX (AP) — A former personal assistant to Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill has filed a lawsuit against him, saying that she was verbally abused during her tenure with the club.
Brittany Neuheisel, who worked with the Cardinals from 2019 until last month, is represented by attorney Michael Caspino and the suit was filed on Thursday in the Superior Court of Maricopa County.
The suit claims constructive discharge, wrongful discharge, discrimination and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The 54-year-old Neuheisel claims that she was “continuously tormented for failing to disavow members of her own family and for refusing to participate in illegal conduct.” The suit also says that Bidwill wanted to replace Neuheisel with someone “young, beautiful and athletic."
In another example, the suit claims that Bidwill demanded Neuheisel “provide false information” on federal and international disclosure forms relating to the owner's travel on a private airplane. It also says that when Neuheisel would raise concerns about Bidwill's requests, the owner would ridicule her Catholic faith, saying, “Do it and then go to confession!”
She is seeking a jury trial for unspecified damages.
The Cardinals responded to the lawsuit in a statement Friday.
“Earlier this week, the Cardinals received an email from a California-based plaintiff’s lawyer,” the statement said. “In it, he threatened to file a lawsuit unless the team agreed to his demand for a substantial amount of money by (5 p.m.) the next day.
“The team refused and the lawyer has now filed the Complaint. The Cardinals were surprised by and strongly deny the allegations made in this lawsuit and intend to defend the case on its merits in the appropriate forum.
“As this is now pending litigation, the team will refrain from further comment.”
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
David Brandt, The Associated Press
