Arizona Cardinals principal owner Michael Bidwill's legal battle with a former assistant remains unresolved after months of delays over arbitration, court records showed.
Brittany Neuheisel sued Bidwill in February 2025
, alleging he pressured her to resign in favor of a younger, more attractive hire, coerced unethical actions and criticized her for prioritizing family. She included the NFL team’s organization in the lawsuit.Neuheisel sought damages for wrongful discharge, discrimination and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit later was moved to the U.S. District Court of Arizona.
In June 2025, a judge ordered that an NFL arbitrator review Neuheisel’s claims rather than hear out the case in court.
As of Oct. 12, Neuheisel
has not begun arbitration proceedings, recent court records showed.
A judge ordered an in-person status hearing for Nov. 4.
Attorneys representing Neuheisel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mark Dalton, a spokesperson for the Arizona Cardinals, said the team would not comment on pending litigation.
Two former Arizona Cardinals staff members — an executive assistant and a former coach — also recently sued Bidwill and the National Football League team, accusing them of discriminatory treatment because of their race. That matter is headed to arbitration as well.
Neuheisel blamed NFL commissioner for delays
Neuheisel’s legal case in U.S. District Court had been stayed for more than a year awaiting arbitration.
In August, the court considered dismissing the case for lack of prosecution and stated no arbitrator had been appointed.
Neuheisel's attorney Michael Weiler, with the firm Price Caspino, argued in a Sept. 3 filing that “not one day of the delay in this arbitration is attributable” to her. She blamed the delay on the NFL commissioner, who had the exclusive role of agreeing to arbitration and deciding whether the dispute was “football-oriented,” her court filing said.
Bidwill’s attorney, David Rosenbaum of Osborn Maledon, argued “all delay in the arbitration rests entirely” on Neuheisel because she “ignored” requests by the NFL for basic information to appoint an arbitrator.
Neuheisel's “delay in filing for arbitration, combined with her failure to timely provide the NFL with basic information needed to initiate the arbitration, has unquestionably delayed this matter by seven months,” the Sept. 8 court filing read.
They also argued that she was using a lawyer who was not authorized to practice law in Arizona, which further delayed the arbitration process. Attorney Michael Caspino, with the Prince Caspino firm, represented her in the initial proceedings.
Rosenbaum's court filing showed Caspino was administratively suspended in 2019 for not paying his dues and remained that way until April 2025. While suspended, he represented Terry McDonough, a former team executive, during a 2024 arbitration case.
A U.S. District Court judge suspended Caspino in June 2025 for the unauthorized practice of law in that case, court filings showed. The judge ordered that Caspino could not work on any case pending in federal District Court for one year, court records stated. In July 2025, the state's presiding disciplinary judge broadened the suspension to all Arizona courts.
Rosenbaum's filing mentioned a separate pending complaint that alleged Caspino "made multiple knowingly false statements" in a 2025 hearing for the former team executive.
Rosenbaum requested Caspino be barred from representing Neuheisel as it could cause additional delays in arbitration.
U.S. District Judge Michael Liburdi agreed Sept. 11 to disqualify Caspino from representing Neuheisel and barred him from performing any legal work related to her arbitration case until his Arizona bar license was reinstated.
Liburdi ordered a status conference for Nov. 4 to address the arbitration progress.
What did Neuheisel allege in her complaint?
Neuheisel’s initial lawsuit claimed Bidwill sought to replace her with someone "young, beautiful, and athletic.” A woman Bidwill referred to as a "hot blonde" was hired and eventually assumed her responsibilities, the lawsuit alleged.
Bidwill pressured her to resign because she refused to distance herself from her two adult children and three young grandchildren who lived with her, Neuheisel’s lawsuit stated.
Neuheisel’s 2025 lawsuit came on the heels of a $3 million payout.
A $3 million payout for former team executive
Former team executive McDonough was granted $3 million by an NFL arbitrator in April 2024 for “false and defamatory” statements the team made about him to the media.
McDonough joined the Cardinals in 2013 and was relieved of his duties in January 2023.
He also filed a lawsuit against Bidwill and others for defamation, negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress in Maricopa Superior Court in April 2024. McDonough and his wife and daughter are named as plaintiffs in the case.
The case was later moved to the U.S. District Court of Arizona. It was dismissed in August 2025, court filings showed.
Reporter Jose R. Gonzalez contributed to this article.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Dispute involving Arizona Cardinals owner and ex-assistant drags on
