We'll Never Know If Brett Favre Had To Discuss His Penis Under OathSEXPAND
The sexual harassment lawsuit against one Brett Lorenzo Favre, filed in January 2011 by two female massage therapists who worked for the Jets, has been resolved. Late Friday afternoon, long after most people had shoved off for the long holiday weekend, the AP reported that a settlement had been reached, though it's not entirely clear whether that's even true, since much of the case file has been placed under seal.
Elizabeth Eilender, an attorney who represented plaintiffs Christina Scavo and Shannon O'Toole, would only tell us via email that "the Case is resolved and it is being discontinued with prejudice." She would neither confirm nor deny whether there had been a settlement agreement. But this much is certain: Favre fought successfully to get the really good stuff—transcripts, depositions, evidence like photos of his dick, etc.—hidden from public view.
We went to the state Supreme Court building in Manhattan today to take a look at the case file. It's a stack of documents two feet high, and nearly all of those documents contain procedural wrangling and legalese. But there was still some good material to be found. To wit:
• Even though Scavo's and O'Toole's suit against the Jets had (mostly) been dismissed in April 2012, their attorneys sent the NFL a subpoena in December 2012 to try to get details of the league's investigation into Favre's sexting activity. Whether the terms of that subpoena were fulfilled appears to be part of what's under seal.
• The plaintiffs' attorneys tried really, really hard to keep Favre's dick a matter of public record in the case file. In September 2012, they presented as evidence photos (in color!) of Favre's dick that appeared on Deadspin. Favre was never accused of sending Scavo and O'Toole any dick pics; those were sent to another Jets employee, Jenn Sterger. But Scavo's and O'Toole's lawyers tried to argue those dick pics were relevant to this case.
Soon after, the case file shows, Favre's attorneys wrote this letter to the Honorable Justice Milton A. Tingling:
We'll Never Know If Brett Favre Had To Discuss His Penis Under OathSEXPAND
A short time after that, Favre was granted a protective order that placed any really good stuff under seal.
• According to a later filing from Favre's attorneys, things had gotten pretty comical before that protective order was granted:
"... the requests to admit sought to obtain a judicial admission as to whether a graphic image of a penis, which plaintiffs apparently copied from a gossip website, depicted Favre. Upon the defendants' motion for a protective order, the parties spent hours with the Court and with Mr. Tavares, the Court's law clerk, discussing each and every request to admit, whether each was relevant, and if relevant, the best manner to obtain the discovery sought therein."
Alas, with the apparent settlement, the American judiciary has now closed the book on Brett Favre's penis.