Brett Favre Sexual Harassment Suit the 'Tip of the Iceberg'?
Lawyer for massage therapists filing suit calls quarterback "arrogant."
Jan. 4. 2010— -- The attorney for two female massage therapists who have leveled sexual harassment charges against Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre called the lawsuit "the tip of the iceberg."
"It's clear that there's no change happening at the Jets. It's not right and it happens to be illegal," Elizabeth Eilender, the attorney for former New York Jets' massage therapists Christine Scavo and Shannon O'Toole, told "Good Morning America."
In the wake of a sex scandal that tarnished Favre's storied 20-year NFL career and cost him a a $50,000 fine, Scavo and O'Toole filed suit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York Monday against Favre, the New York Jets and Lisa Ripi, a woman who hires massage therapists for the team.
In the suit, Scavo alleges that Favre sent text messages to another unidentified massage therapist, asking Scavo and the unidentified woman to "get together" with Favre.
Scavo said that in 2008 while Favre was with the New York Jets, he treated her like a "hanging slab of meat." In the suit she claims he wanted a three-way with her and another therapist.
Favre allegedly texted the unidentified therapist, writing, "Brett here, you and Crissy want to get together, I'm all alone," according to the lawsuit.
Favre allegedly sent another text message reading, "Kinda lonely tonight, I guess I have bad intentions."
Scavo claimed that after she refused Favre's advances and had her husband, Joseph Scavo, call Favre to demand an apology, both Scavo and the other plaintiff, Shannon O'Toole, were never offered work with the Jets again.
Scavo's husband said he confronted the quarterback to stop soliciting his wife and asked for an apology, but Favre "responded in an inappropriate manner and refused," according to the lawsuit.
"[Favre] was propositioning my client and another massage therapist repeatedly," Eilender said. "One of my clients showed the text messages to her husband, Mr. Scavo, he contacted Brett Favre who was inappropriate. He was very arrogant, used some choice language."
Joseph Scavo claimed that his wife then came under fire from her boss, Lisa Ripi, a defendant in the lawsuit. The suit alleges that Ripi wrote "for sure feel horrible that u had to go thru that [with] a pervert ... however I truly wish you would've come forward at the time it happened."
Ripi goes on to say, "I've been up there 13 years without anything that happened to me on tmz ... cause it was handled internally the way it should be," according to the lawsuit.