Robert Cary McNair Jr., the son of Houston Texans co-founders Janice McNair and the late Robert McNair, is suing the National Football League for “tortious interference,” his lawyer said.
Tortious interference allows a plaintiff to seek damages against a defendant who “wrongfully and intentionally interferes” with a contractual or business relationship, according to Cornell Law School.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday in New York State Supreme Court, on behalf of McNair Jr., attorney Tony Buzbee seeks more than $60 million for an “alleged conspiracy” between the current Houston Texans owner and CEO, Cal McNair, and the NFL.
McNair Jr. questioned player scandals that “potentially implicated the NFL, its personnel, and its decision-making process,” the lawsuit alleges, causing the league to “silence him.”
The NFL allegedly worked to negotiate a restructuring of the McNair family business and family trust, which included installing McNair Jr.’s brother, Cal McNair, as the owner’s representative — typically a family member representing the owner’s interest in team operations.
McNair Jr. was allegedly excluded from meaningful roles within the family businesses so that he could “exercise no influence over NFL-related matters,” the complaint states.
“We believe the evidence will be clear and overwhelming that the NFL intervened in the McNair family business to remove Cary McNair from his position as CEO, in an effort to silence Cary McNair,” Buzbee said in a statement.
CBS News reached out to the NFL, McNair Interests and the Houston Texans for comment.
Robert McNair Sr. sold his power company, Cogen Technologies, to Enron for $1.5 billion in 1999. The same year, he founded the Texans and subsequently established several charitable organizations with his wife, Janice. Mr. McNair died in November 2018.
