Hanesbrands' decision to drop the Steelers star was likely a "kneejerk reaction" made within 48 hours of the tweets, Thompson said. The swiftness of that move contrasts with Champion's silence regarding other contentious tweets by Mendenhall, the lawsuit claims.
On March 15, for example, Mendenhall tweeted about his agreement with Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson's comments comparing the NFL to "modern-day slavery."
"Anyone with knowledge of the slave trade and the NFL could say that these two parallel each other," Mendenhall wrote.
About six weeks later, he tweeted that women who decline to perform oral sex on a partner should be aware that "It's either gonna be you, OR some other chick."
"Hanesbrands at no time prior to May 2011 suggested that it disagreed with Mr. Mendenhall's comments or that his tweets were in any way inconsistent with the values of the Champion brand," the lawsuit says.
So the gist of his lawsuit is as follows:
I've been an idiot before and you didn't fire me, so you can't fire me if I continue to be an idiot.
I'm thinking he's going to need a bit of luck to win this one.
