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Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon denied allegations of sexual harassment and sexual battery by an assistant for his sports marketing firm and said that he had "witnesses that would testify" to their inaccuracy. Speaking to Seattle's KIRO Radio 97.3 FM on Thursday, Moon said that Wendy Haskell's allegations were "totally untrue" that he made "unwanted and unsolicited" sexual advances as part of her role as his assistant working for Sports 1 Marketing.
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"I know this subject of harassment and assault and different things in the workplace by women is a very serious subject right now," Moon said, "and a lot of women have held a lot of these feelings in for a long time, and are coming out and expressing these feelings, and they should be applauded for that. And I applaud those women for doing that. But in this particular situation, in my case, it just doesn't apply."
The lawsuit, which was filed earlier this month in Orange County (Calif.) Superior Court, alleges that soon after the 32-year-old Haskell was hired in July, Moon demanded that she "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."
Moon, 61, responded to that claim Thursday by saying, "at times we did share rooms together, and at other times we didn't. It just depended on the situation of where we were. Sometimes she was with other girlfriends and she stayed with them, or sometimes she just met me on her own."
Moon told the radio station that it wasn't unusual for him to share a room with Haskell, saying he's done so with others in the past.
"To me, it's not, only because of my history with women in general," Moon said. "I've done this with many other women, I've been able to if the situation arises that they needed somewhere to stay or whatever, they would stay with me. And they knew that there wasn't going to be any threat because of the respect that they have for me. So I can get a big number of women that would come forward and tell you those same things, that every time they were around me, they'd never feel any type of threat from me and they feel very comfortable around me, and it was no different with her."
Moon dismissed the allegation of him drugging Haskell during a trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in October. She claimed in the lawsuit that Moon attempted to pull off her swimsuit.
"No truth to that at all," he said.
Moon told the radio station that their relationship was always platonic.
"It never became (romantic) because neither of us sought that," Moon said. "... We both had come out of long-term relationships. She was actually dating some different guys in her life, and I was very aware of that and I had no problem with that; there was a big age difference between us, so where she wanted to go in her life as far as maybe being married one day maybe having kids, that's not where I was going in my life. But we had a connection with one another as far as just enjoying each other's company."
Moon, who was named the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year in 1989, was sued by a Vikings cheerleader who accused him of offering her cash for sex in 1995. The case was settled out of court.
Moon was arrested in Houston two months later after his then-wife, Felicia, told police that he struck her on the head and choked her before she escaped from the couple's home. The case went to trial, and Moon was acquitted when his wife testified she had initiated the violence.
Moon spent six seasons in the CFL, and led the Edmonton Eskimos to five straight Grey Cup titles, while throwing for 21,228 yards and 144 touchdowns. He then ventured to the NFL and made nine Pro Bowls, throwing for 49,325 yards, 291 touchdowns and 233 interceptions in 17 NFL seasons with the Houston Oilers, Minnesota Vikings, Kansas City Chiefs and Seahawks.
He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.
