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FILE - In this Dec. 7, 2008, file photo, New York Jets quarterback Brett Favre reacts to a missed pass during the second half on an NFL football game against the San Fransisco 49ers in San Francisco. A lawsuit filed by two massage therapists who sued retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre over claims he sent racy text messages has been settled, a lawyer for the women said Friday, May 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
NEW YORK >> A lawsuit filed by two massage therapists who sued retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre over claims he sent racy text messages has been settled, a lawyer for the women said today.
Lawyer David Jaroslawicz wouldn’t comment on the terms of the settlement, saying only that the case had been “resolved and discontinued.”
Christina Scavo and Shannon O’Toole had alleged in a lawsuit seeking unspecified damages that in 2008, while Favre was playing for the New York Jets, they lost their part-time jobs with the team after complaining that he sent sexually suggestive texts to another therapist.
During the 2008 preseason, the lawsuit alleged, the three-time NFL MVP sent another woman a text message asking to get together with her and Scavo, followed by another text saying, “I guess I have bad intentions.”
After Scavo’s husband asked Favre to apologize, she and O’Toole lost gigs with the Jets, the lawsuit said.
A lawyer for Favre didn’t immediately respond to a call for comment Friday but has denied the allegations in the past, arguing in court papers that if the therapists lost work Favre wasn’t responsible for it. A lawyer for the Jets also didn’t immediately respond to a call seeking comment Friday.
The therapists’ lawsuit was filed five days after the NFL fined Favre $50,000 for not being forthright in an investigation into allegations that he sent bawdy text messages and photos to former Jets game hostess Jenn Sterger when they both worked for the team. During that investigation, media reports claimed Favre also had pursued massage therapists, but the NFL said it was unable to get enough information to decide whether the reports were substantiated.
The Jets have said O’Toole and Scavo worked for the team for a combined total of five days over two years, making $2,300 in all, and were never guaranteed ongoing work. The team wasn’t told about the women’s concerns and simply turned to other massage therapists after its training facility moved in 2008, its officials and lawyers have said in court filings.
Favre retired from the NFL in 2010, after playing for 20 seasons, mostly with the Green Bay Packers. He began his career with the Atlanta Falcons and ended it with the Minnesota Vikings.
