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The Houston Texans are probably busy doing what 29 other organizations have eyes on at the moment: attempting to figure out how to ensure February football in 2019. But on Friday, they had something of a more serious nature that warranted attention and a public response.
A former employee by the name of Kristen Grimes has filed a lawsuit against the franchise. In the suit, she is alleging that the Texans failed to properly investigate sexual harassment complaints. She is accusing the team of negligence, civil assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress and defamation.
The Texans acknowledged the suit in a statement, per the franchise's official Twitter account:
Article Continues Below“We are aware that a lawsuit was filed earlier today against the Houston Texans alleging, among other things, that the Club failed to properly investigate and respond to a sexual harassment complaint filed by a former employee in November 2016. The Houston Texans take complaints of this nature seriously. Consistent with Club policy, this matter was promptly investigated and addressed at the time the complaint was made. We will vigorously defend ourselves against this litigation.”
In the lawsuit, Grimes claimed that former football operations manager Jason Lowrey “foster(ed) an Alpha-Male environment, where continuous improprieties toward female employees were not punished. In fact, they were rewarded.”
It goes on to claim that Lowrey pursued a relationship with her, groped her, and publicly demeaned her during a work-related trip to Nashville in 2013. After she ended a relationship with Lowery in 2015, Grimes claims that he stalked her at work.
The Texans hired Lowery to serve as the football operations manager in 2010. He received a promotion to Director of Football Operations in 2014. With general manager Rick Smith, who Lowery was a close associate of, taking a leave of absence, the front office has undergone some changes—including letting Lowery go in January.
