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‘Xavien Howard never had genital herpes.’ Lawsuit against Miami Dolphins All-Pro dropped

A woman has dropped her lawsuit against Miami Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard that alleged the two-time All-Pro player lied to and negligently gave her genital herpes.

The woman filed a notice of voluntary dismissal without prejudice — meaning the suit can be filed again — on Wednesday. It posted to online court Broward County Circuit Court records the following day. Coral Gables attorney Brad Sohn, one of Howard’s lawyers, took to social media to make sure the media and fans noticed.

READ MORE: Lawyers for Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard call lawsuit ‘a shakedown’

“Xavien Howard never had genital herpes in the first place; the entire basis of her lawsuit was a literal impossibility,” part of Sohn’s Tweet said. “His accuser nevertheless lobbed out defamatory, absurd, and knowingly-false claims, as one of several (unsuccessful) attempts to extort money from him.”

Sohn noted Howard was considering legal action against his accuser for defamation. Despite that, Sohn had nothing but kind words for her lawyer, Brad Edwards of Fort Lauderdale’s Edwards Pottinger: “a terrific lawyer,” ethical, but saddled with a client who didn’t “tell the truth.”

A Monday afternoon email to Edwards asking why the lawsuit was dropped hasn’t been answered yet.

The woman’s lawsuit, filed under “Jane Doe,” claimed Howard got herpes in 2019, didn’t tell her and transmitted it to her by 2021 through unprotected sex. The day after the Oct. 27 filing of the case, Howard’s attorneys, Alan Mensa-Wilmot and Darren Heitner, filed a motion to dismiss for the lawsuit’s failure to disclose the woman’s actual identity.

“Plainiff’s complaint is the epitome of a shakedown,” the motion’s overview began. “Knowing such, the Plaintiff has elected to file the complaint under the guise of anonymity for the purpose of shielding herself from filing a complaint completely void of merit.”

Since the Dolphins drafted Howard in the second round out of Baylor in 2017, he’s made two postseason All-Pro teams and four Pro Bowls. Five months before the lawsuit, Howard signed a new five-year contract that made him the National Football League’s highest paid cornerback.