Bill Belichick is not settling, the 74-year-old UNC football coach has filed a counter-complaint and demanded a jury trial in a $300,000 negligence lawsuit brought by a painter who says he was injured at Belichick's Nantucket property.
The legal fight traces back to June 2024, when a painter named Andrew Jackson allegedly fell while working inside Belichick's Fair Street home on Nantucket, a Massachusetts island property valued at roughly $5 million. Jackson claims he severely injured his right ankle after slipping on improperly maintained plastic sheeting that covered floors and furniture during the job. He filed suit in April in Nantucket Superior Court, naming Forty Five Fair Street LLC, a company managed by Belichick, as the defendant and seeking nearly $300,000 in damages.
Belichick's response did not stop at denial. Through his legal entity, 45 LLC, the former New England Patriots coach filed a third-party complaint dragging local contractor Levesque Builders Inc. and its owner, Pat Levesque, into the case. He also demanded a trial by jury, a signal, the Daily Mail reported, that he has no interest in writing a check to make this go away.
The third-party complaint lays out a clear theory: Belichick's entity had nothing to do with supervising the painter's work. That was the contractor's job, start to finish.
The New York Post reported key language from the filing:
"Levesque, solely and exclusively, maintained direction, control, management and supervision over Mr. Jackson's work at the property."
The complaint goes further, asserting that Levesque Builders bore full responsibility for ensuring the painting was performed safely. 45 LLC stated it "did not direct, control, manage or supervise Mr. Jackson or his employer in connection with the painting work."
Belichick's filing also left room for an alternative theory, that Jackson himself bore fault. The complaint states that if Jackson was injured, "his injuries were sustained as a result either of his own negligence or fault in performing the work, or Levesque's negligence or fault in failing to direct, control, manage and/or supervise the work."
In his initial legal response, Belichick went a step further, calling Jackson's claims "frivolous" and "wholly unsubstantiated." He is seeking attorney's fees under a Massachusetts statute that allows courts to award costs when a lawsuit is found to lack merit.
Jackson's side tells a different story. His lawsuit alleges Belichick owed a duty "to use reasonable care to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition, to inspect for hazards, to warn of dangers of which it knew or should have known, and to coordinate the site in a reasonably safe manner for lawful workers present there."
The financial breakdown in the suit is detailed. Jackson claims nearly $61,000 in hospital expenses, $4,600 in doctor's visits, and about $2,000 in physical therapy costs. The largest single item is $167,828.25 in lost wages, with an additional $50,000 in anticipated future lost earnings. His total claimed losses come to $285,436.39.
Jackson's lawsuit describes the injury as severe, alleging it resulted in "serious bodily injuries including a severe right ankle injury, together with pain, disability, medical expenses, lost wages, and other consequential damages," according to court filings cited by Fox News. Jackson also received worker's compensation through his employer, though the relationship between his employer and Levesque Builders is not clear from available filings.
Pat Levesque was served with Belichick's third-party complaint last month, according to the Nantucket Current. Neither Levesque nor his company has publicly responded to the allegations. The Daily Mail reported it reached out to Levesque for comment.
The case puts Belichick in an unusual spotlight as he prepares for his first season coaching the North Carolina Tar Heels. UNC opens its season August 29 against TCU. Belichick co-owns the Nantucket property with Jordon Hudson, his 25-year-old girlfriend.
Separately, UNC placed general manager Michael Lombardi on paid administrative leave amid an ongoing university investigation following a complaint from a former staffer. That matter does not appear connected to the Nantucket lawsuit.
Several open questions remain. No court or docket number has been publicly identified for the case. Whether Levesque Builders hired Jackson as a subcontractor, and what contractual obligations governed the arrangement, could prove central to the outcome. Belichick's complaint rests on the argument that a property owner who hires a contractor should not be liable for injuries to workers the contractor was supposed to supervise.
That is a reasonable legal position, and Belichick is clearly prepared to make it in front of a jury. The demand for a trial, combined with the request for attorney's fees, suggests a defendant who believes the facts are on his side, and who wants to make a point about accountability landing where it belongs.
If Jackson was hurt on the job, someone owes him an answer. Belichick's argument is simple: it is not him.
