Former Spurs doctor has filed a lawsuit against Josh Primo and the Spurs
Brian Wright #BrianWright
Last week, former player Josh Primo was waived by the Spurs following accusations that he had exposed himself to women. The main victim was later revealed to former team psychiatrist, Dr. Hillary Cauthen, who held a press conference this morning with Houston-based attorney Tony Buzbee. The confirmed a lawsuit has been filed against Primo and the Spurs organization, claiming the organization ignored her repeated reports of indecent exposure by Primo, dating as far back as December 2021.
Cauthen detailed that after reporting the first incident, she did not get a meeting with Spurs General Manager Brian Wright until January, where she was told she should set up a meeting with the Spurs brass and Primo himself to find the root causes of the incident. That meeting never happened, but the Spurs told her to continue treating him. The incidents continued, and when she reported her discomfort with the situation again, she was told to work from home.
Meetings Cauthen was able to get included one with Wright on March 21, 2022, but nothing had been done about Primo’s behavior. The lawsuit also states that in June, the Spurs counsel Brandon James and human resources head Kara Allen informed Cauthen that Gregg Popovich “was aware of her complaint and accusations and that he wanted to do right by her.” (This was the only mention of Pop in the lawsuit.) The also told her that Primo would continue participating in team activities, and later that she would not be attending the Las Vegas Summer League due to a “lack of trust between her and the team”.
The lawsuit also lists at least two other incidents of indecent exposure by Primo, one in Las Vegas and again last week in Minnesota. The Minnesota incident was then leaked from the organization, which triggered the Spurs’ waiving of Primo before the media reported it first.
Primo’s Response
For his part, Primo continues to maintain his innocence and has hired attorney William J. Biggs, II as legal representation. Briggs states that Primo has suffered a lifetime of trauma, which he is in the process of being treated for, and is now being victimized by Dr. Cauthen for financial benefit. He says Primo never intentionally exposed himself, but if he did it was a wardrobe mishap, and she never told him it was happening.
No matter what, this is a bad look for the Spurs organization, especially Wright. At worst they ignored allegations of sexual misconduct, at best they completely mishandled the situation. There’s no telling where this will go from here, but it’s not hard to imagine there will be plenty of shake-ups in the first office and public relations departments at a minimum. We will keep you informed as more information comes out.