Hairston is being accused of sexual assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky and obtained by USA TODAY Sports, alleges on the night of March 24, 2021, Hairston came to the women’s dorm room uninvited. She says she first met Hairston earlier in 2021 outside their shared on-campus residence hall at the University of Kentucky.
‘Plaintiff inquired about the purpose of Defendant’s visit, to which Defendant responded that he wanted to hang out with Plaintiff. Plaintiff declined and further expressed that she was tired and going to bed before turning around and walking away from the door,’ according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit states that Hairston followed the woman into her bedroom and ignored her repeated refusals to engage in sexual contact. Hairston then forcibly removed the woman’s pajama shorts and sexually assaulted her, the suit states.
‘Our client showed remarkable strength in coming forward, and we are proud to stand with her in pursuit of accountability and justice,’ said Peter Flowers, one of the women’s attorneys. ‘No one – regardless of their status or athletic success – is above the law.’
Hairston was selected with the 30th overall pick by the Bills in April’s draft. When asked about Hairston, Bills general manager Brandon Beane said that the draft pick was properly vetted.
‘We did a lot of research. I think all teams were aware of the Title IX thing. That was fully investigated by the school. He even volunteered to do a polygraph and had notes. It was one of those where there was zero information saying that this actually happened, to what the accusation was. You can’t take someone’s account and think that’s the truth. But yes, we fully investigated that,’ Beane said. ‘Every person you talk to at Kentucky, teammates, staff there, plus what we’ve done, I would say this is a heck of a young man, every person you ask. That’s unfortunate when things like that are attached to someone’s name; in this case, it doesn’t seem to be anything there.’
The woman, who is seeking a jury trial and compensatory damages on all counts, reported the incident to law enforcement and transferred out of the University of Kentucky.