Buffalo Bills rookie cornerback Maxwell Hairston was named as a defendant in a civil lawsuit after a woman says she was sexually assaulted by Hairston when they both attended the University of Kentucky in 2021.
Hairston, the Bills first-round draft pick, 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, alleges on the night of March 24, 2021, Hairston came to the women’s dorm room uninvited. The woman, who identified herself as Rebecca Hendryx, says she first met Hairston earlier in 2021 outside their shared on-campus residence hall at the University of Kentucky.
According to the lawsuit: “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.” The lawsuit states that Hairston followed the woman into her bedroom and ignored her repeated refusals to engage in sexual contact, before he sexually assaulted her.
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. Peter Flowers, one of the women’s attorneys, said in a statement: “our client showed remarkable strength in coming forward, and we are proud to stand with her in pursuit of accountability and justice. 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. The Bills had no comment regarding the new lawsuit, and referred to statements made by general manager Brandon Beane during the draft, who said at the time the team had “fully investigated” a sexual assault allegation from 2021 involving Hairston, who he called “an impeccable kid.” Beane added: “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. 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.”
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