KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Super Bowl-winning quarterback Peyton Manning was shining like a Christmas ornament just a week ago when he probably walked off the field for the last time with that elusive Lombardi Trophy.
That light has somewhat dimmed now.
The Denver Broncos quarterback has been accused of helping to create a “sexually hostile environment” in a class action lawsuit by a group of women filed against the University of Tennessee who accuse the school violated Title IX regulations because the institution allegedly mishandled and neglected the reports from the women.
The lawsuit stems mostly from cases that occurred between 2013 and 2015, but it also references incidents involving Tennessee student-athletes dating to 1995 when Manning was the star quarterback there.
One paragraph in the 64-page document includes a sexual harassment complaint made by a Tennessee trainer in 1996 involving an incident that occurred in a training room while she was treating Manning.
The trainer, Jamie Ann Naughright, settled in 1997, but sued Manning for defamation in 2002 after he discussed the incident in a book. The lawsuit was settled in 2003.
Manning played for Tennessee from 1994-97.
Naughright’s sexual harassment states Manning exposed his buttocks as Naughright, then known as Jamie Whited, bent over to examine his foot in a training room. Manning claimed that it was a prank intended for another athlete.
However, Naughright said Manning “sat on her face” while she was assessing the extent of an injury.
The New York Daily News released a 74-page document Saturday that Naughright’s lawyers had filed on her behalf in 2003 while the defamation suit was still in litigation.
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