HOUSTON – A month removed from completing one of its worst seasons in franchise history, the Houston Texans organization finds itself in legal trouble.
Brazoria County resident Kristen Grimes filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the NFL franchise on Feb. 2 in the Harris County 80th District Court.
Grimes alleges Jason Lowrey, the defendant’s Manager of Football Operations, pursued a relationship with her immediately after her May 2013 hiring.
The suit adds “it was well known” within the Texans organization that Lowrey, who is a co-defendant in the case, mistreated female employees.
Grimes apparently was unaware of Lowrey’s purported misbehavior.
Court papers recall an instance in December 2013 in which Lowrey supposedly groped and demeaned the plaintiff in front of other Texans employees and business guests at a bar in Nashville, Tenn.
Per Grimes, she tried to sever her relationship with Lowrey completely more than a year later only to be retaliated against.
“Lowrey retaliated by openly stalking her at the workplace, and making it uncomfortable, if not impossible for the plaintiff to perform her job duties,” the suit says. “As the plaintiff continued to ignore and avoid Jason Lowrey, both he and individuals within the Houston Texans’ ownership began making false statements to other Houston Texans employees. These comments alleged that the plaintiff was having inappropriate relationships with players on the team. Mr. Lowrey additionally memorialized these false accusations in company emails that were sent to the plaintiff.”
Grimes asserts Lowrey furthered “this pattern of stalking and staring.” According to the complainant, he again humiliated her during a business event in Nashville in late 2015 by publicly accusing her of having inappropriate relations with members of the Texans offensive line.
She says she reported Lowrey to the team’s human resources department, but it failed to conduct a “proper and unbiased internal” investigation of “clearly out of fear that the conduct would be discovered.”
The Texans reportedly did not reprimand or discipline Lowrey while Grimes “was constructively terminated.”
In response to the litigation, the franchise issued a statement insisting it did what it could to properly address Grimes’s complaints and announcing its intentions to defend itself throughout the life of the case.
Consequently, the plaintiff seeks unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.
She is represented by Bill L. Voss and Scott G. Hunziker of The Voss Law Firm, P.C. in The Woodlands.
Harris County 80th District Court Case No. 2018-7328