Bizarre news out of New Orleans today, as the reigning Super Bowl champion Saints are the target of a constructive discharge (or, basically, coerced resignation) lawsuit from the team’s former head of security. At the heart of the issue is an alleged theft of a substantial amount of Vicodin from the team’s drug locker:
Sean Payton Denies Vicodin Abuse Alleged In Lawsuit Against Saints
Former Saints director of security Geoffrey Santini [...] alleges that G.M. Mickey Loomis attempted to cover up evidence that Vicodin was being abused and/or stolen from the team drug locker by two senior staff members.
The lawsuit does not name the two senior staff members. Per the initial filing, Saints trainer Scottie Patton told Santini that one of the unnamed employees has a “painful medical condition,” and that the other one does not.
Based on extensive discussions with multiple sources having knowledge of the situation but who have requested anonymity given the sensitive nature of the case, the two unnamed senior staff members are assistant head coach/linebackers coach Joe Vitt and head coach Sean Payton.
Per the lawsuit, “Senior Staff Member A” (i.e., Payton) allegedly was receiving sufficient Vicodin to constitute abuse. The lawsuit does not specifically allege that “Senior Staff Member A” was stealing the pills.
The Saints, predictably, are hitting back hard at the lawsuit; here’s what they told the New Orleans Times-Picayune on Friday:
“A former employee who resigned just before the 2009 regular season threatened to go public with these unfounded charges unless we agreed to pay him an exorbitant sum of money,” said Greg Bensel, vice president of communications for the Saints. “We refused, and now he has gone public. We will aggressively defend these false allegations in court.”
Further, Payton released his own statement today, and it’s similarly unambiguous:
“I have reviewed Geoff Santini’s lawsuit and the unwarranted publicity it has received,” Payton says in a statement provided to us by the Saints. “I have never abused or stolen vicodin or any other medication and I fully support the Saints’ position in this matter as expressed by Greg Bensel yesterday. ”
Our New Orleans Saints blog, Canal Street Chronicles, has a comprehensive rundown of the lawsuit and the allegations therein. Upon a cursory glance, it looks far worse for Vitt than Payton. If the allegations are verifiable, though, both men would likely find themselves in a mountain of trouble.
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