David Otunga Gives His Verdict On Montez Ford Lawsuit

David Otunga shares his verdict on the Montez Ford lawsuit.

On October 14, Noel Lucas, a Cook County Sheriff’s officer, filed a lawsuit against Montez Ford and WWE because of a “lap dance” performed on him by Ford during the July 6 edition of WWE Raw. He alleged 14 counts, including battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and violations of the Illinois Gender Violence Act. Fans can read more about it here.

Former WWE wrestler David Otunga, who is also a Harvard Law graduate and an Illinois attorney, has now shared his thoughts on this case on his YouTube channel.

In the filing, it was alleged that Crawford’s “left inner thigh repeatedly rubbed against Plaintiff’s leg.” David Otunga broke down the clip that circulated on social media in his YouTube video. He couldn’t see any physical contact being made as the filing alleged.

“You see Lucas trying to keep a straight face. There, he’s starting to crack a smile. Tez is really getting into there. He’s smiling and looking away, trying to conceal his laugh. He looks a little uncomfortable, but at the same time, it does seem that he’s aware this is a joke. 

The interesting thing is, from this vantage point, I don’t see the physical contact. Now, the screen is cut off a little bit, but remember, it alleges that Montez’s left thigh, his inner thigh, makes unwanted contact. I’m keeping my eye on it there. It’s further away from him. So, if there is contact, it would appear to only be incidental. Like, it doesn’t look like it’s intentional. 

I haven’t seen any contact yet. Now, there may be other angles where you can see it more clearly, but at least from this angle, I don’t even see that contact, which is going to be a bit of a problem for Mr. Lucas, who’s alleging battery, civil battery.” 

He continued, “So, this just looks like, Tez trying to entertain the crowd, trying to make this guy laugh and probably trying to pop Dawkins and everybody else. Everybody seems to be having a good time. I think he’s more so trying to focus on the championship belt. But, all right, it is somewhat of a lap dance. But, hey, Montez Ford is a playful guy, and he’s just having fun. This definitely is a comedic spot and seems like it was harmless to me.” 

David Otunga once again said that he couldn’t see any physical contact being made between the two.

“However, the security guard, Noel Lucas, alleges that it was not merely harmless. For my initial take on this, Montez Ford is a playful guy. He’s entertaining the crowd. This looks to me like he’s trying to get the security guard, Noel Lucas, to break his stoic expression and laugh. 

Mr. Lucas is trying to keep a straight face, but later he appears to smile and looks like he’s holding back a laugh. So, now that’s my interpretation of what we’re seeing. It isn’t proof of what either man was thinking, though. So, for my review of the video… Again, I don’t see clear physical contact being made. Could another angle show something that this one doesn’t? Absolutely. Because parts of their legs are obscured. But if there was a brief brush, I’d want to know whether it was incidental. That would be different from the repeated intentional rubbing that’s alleged in lawsuit. So, I can’t confirm that allegation from this angle though.”

Later in the video, David Otunga shared his verdict on this suit.

“Well, on the public evidence we’ve discussed, I lean towards the defense on the claims about Ford’s conduct. I’m particularly skeptical of the emotional distress claim on the record. I really am. It looks like Lucas knew that this was a joke. Clearly, Montez intended this to be a joke. I just don’t see there being legitimate emotional distress. I could be wrong. He might be able to convince a jury of this. But my take is, I don’t think so. But like I said, surviving an early motion is different from actually convincing a jury. Just like winning one claim is different from winning all of them. Proving liability is different from proving a large amount of damages.

If the evidence shows no contact, no reasonable anticipation of unwanted contact, as is needed for assault, and a brief comic interaction without the required severe distress, several essential theories have serious problems. If another angle or credible testimony establishes deliberate repeated contact, then the battery analysis changes substantially. But from the video angles we’ve seen, I don’t see any contact. If there’s any contact, it does not look deliberate to me. So I think battery fails. But again, there’s no visible injury required for battery. But a large damages award still needs support. 

Now the publicity claim turns on its own evidence and defenses. I can’t responsibly give you a percentage before seeing the complete complaints, seeing the agreements, and seeing both sides’ evidence. A sweeping victory or major trial award for Lucas, I don’t know if I see that by what we’ve seen so far.”

He also talked about WWE potentially going for a settlement.

“However, that being said, could WWE settle anyway? Potentially. I mean, settlement is a realistic possibility, even when the defendant believes it has a strong case. I think that Montez Ford and WWE have a strong case. I really do. However, is it worth it for them to go through this? I mean, it might be more cost effective and from a PR standpoint to come to a settlement and just make this go away. Because again, litigation still carries a risk. But paying to resolve a dispute can be a smart business decision. Again, it isn’t necessarily an admission that the allegations are true. But at the same time, don’t assume WWE is just automatically going to write a check. Now, it may believe the evidence favors Ford, reject the amount requested, or decide defending the case is worthwhile. Because again, I feel like they have a strong case here. So we don’t know whether negotiations have occurred or what either side would accept. I wouldn’t call settlement inevitable. Yeah, the reporting we reviewed doesn’t specify a dollar demand. Interestingly, Lucas also seeks punitive damages and restrictions on use of his identity. Asking for those remedies doesn’t establish entitlement to either one of them. Again, for me, the central issue is this: The lawsuit describes unwanted physical contact. But in the viral video, it doesn’t clearly establish that contact ever occurred, at least not from this angle. I see plausible explanation that Montez Ford was trying to make the guard laugh. This clearly looks like a joke. That’s a defense worth taking serious. I mean, Lucas also gives the opportunity to present evidence beyond this clip if there’s other vantage points. But we’ll see.”

You can watch David Otunga’s full YouTube video in the embed linked at the top of the article.

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