Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones Accused of Sexual Harassment

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is now facing a sexual harassment suit filed by a former exotic dancer who claimed that she was assaulted by Jones five years ago. 

Jana Weckerly, according to a Reuters report on Yahoo Sports, accused Jones of fondling her breasts and genitals then forcing her to touch his private parts inside a Dallas Hotel room in 2009. The former dancer is said to be asking for $1 million in damages as she claimed that the Cowboys owner also "received oral sex" from another woman while he harassed her. Wekerly's complaint also accused the Cowboys organization of covering up and killing the incident.

But a lawyer of Jones said that he denies the accusations against him claiming that this was only a "money grab" strategy.

"These allegations are completely false. This is nothing more than an attempt to embarrass and extort Jerry Jones. The legal complaint is unsupported by facts or evidence of any kind. This is nothing more than an attempt to embarrass and extort Jerry Jones. This is a shakedown by a lawyer who is a solo practitioner just trying to make a name for himself. The alleged incidents would have been more than five years old," lawyer Levi McCathern told Reuters.

He added that Jones' camp intend to "vigorously contest" the complaint which he reiterated is anchored on "baseless allegations."

In an earlier interview with the Dallas Morning News, Jones said that the issue only surfaced after photos of him with two women appeared on social media. 

"Someone has misrepresented photos taken at a restaurant five years ago for their own purposes. I'm just not going to comment on it," he said.

According to a Dallas News report, the "sexually suggestive" photos, which were allegedly taken by Weckely and just released last month, were included in a manifesto by a certain Frank Hoover who hails from Wichita, Kansas. Hoover also detailed that Jones allegedly paid Weckerly to keep quiet about the incident.

This claim was, however, dismissed by Weckerly's legal counsel, Thomas Bower, who said that his client did not extort money from Jones.

"If anybody did something wrong, it was the Cowboys and Jerry Jones. Sometimes powerful people think they can get by with anything," he added.

Bowers also said that Jones did what other billionaires do: "had his large personal security men lift Weckerly and the two other women from the ground and pack them out of the club."

As of press time, the NFL has refused to give a comment on the lawsuit prompting Bowers to question what the league will do about this incident.

"It's amazing how athletes are held to a different standard than the owners, who are allowed to do things an athlete would probably lose his job for. So I'll be very curious to see what the league does with this," Bowers added.