Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk and six-time Pro Bowl quarterback Donovan McNabb are among five on-air pundits and a senior executive who have been suspended by ESPN, the NFL Network and Bill Simmons’ The Ringer after a former co-worker alleged sexual misconduct in a lawsuit.

Faulk, along with fellow ex-players Heath Evans and Ike Taylor, allegedly groped and made sexually explicit comments to former wardrobe stylist Jami Cantor when they were colleagues at the NFL Network, according to a lawsuit filed against NFL Enterprises by Cantor.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy on Tuesday identified the three as Faulk, Ike Taylor and Heath Evans and said they have been “suspended from their duties at NFL Network pending an investigation into these allegations”.

Former NFL Network executive Eric Weinberger, who’s since become the president of Bill Simmons’s media group, and McNabb, a former NFL Network analyst who’s since left for ESPN, are among those named in the suit.

The complaint alleges Weinberger sent “several nude pictures of himself and sexually explicit texts” and told Cantor she was “put on earth to pleasure me”, while Taylor is said to have sent Cantor “sexually inappropriate” photos and a video of him masturbating in the shower.

Weinberger has been suspended from The Ringer, who issued the following statement: “These are very serious and disurbing allegations that we were made aware of today. We are placing Eric on leave indefinitely until we have a better understanding of what transpired during his time at the NFL, and we will conduct our own internal investigation.”

ESPN said McNabb and Eric Davis, another employee named in the complaint, have been pulled from the air while the network investigates the lawsuit.

Josh Krulewitz, a spokesman for the company, said Tuesday in a statement that neither McNabb nor Davis would appear on any of the networks while the investigation proceeds.

None of the men accused responded to messages seeking comment from the Associated Press.

Cantor worked at the NFL Network for a decade until she was fired in October 2016. She filed an amended complaint originally filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in October.

In the suit against NFL Enterprises, she alleges age and sex discrimination, sexual harassment that created a hostile work environment, wrongful termination and defamation.

