In reports by ESPN’s Tisha Thompson, and Liz Clarke of the Washington Post, it has been revealed that the NFL and Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder entered into an agreement that any findings from Congress’ current probe into the team’s toxic workplace environment cannot be made public by one entity without the agreement of the other.
From Clarke’s report:
The existence of the document, which was obtained by a congressional committee investigating the NFL’s handling of the team’s toxic culture and released Friday morning, undermines claims that the NFL’s probe was impartial, the Democrats who released the documents said.
The agreement “may have been intended to prevent the public release of certain information related to the investigation absent the agreement of both parties,” the Democrats wrote in a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Friday, “meaning that either the WFT or the NFL could try to bury the findings of the investigation.”
The House Committee for Oversight and Reform has heard testimony from several former Washington Redskins employees, all female, who detailed a workplace rife with sexual harassments up to and including at the ownership level.
The House Committee also released a document on Friday which reveals that the team requested a written investigation from Beth Wilkinson’s law firm. Previously, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has said that the league could not release the finings of Wilkinson’s investigation because the report was not written, and was given to the league orally.
“This morning, we released two key documents: the first shows Wilkinson was hired to write a report, but as we know, NFL changed that plan,” Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Illinois) said in a Friday statement. “The second shows the Commanders and NFL agreed to pursue a ‘joint legal strategy,’ raising serious doubts about NFL’s commitment to independence and transparency in investigating the Commanders. We will continue to investigate, get answers, provide accountability for these victims and workers across America.”
From Thompson’s ESPN report:
Five women appeared before Congress on Thursday, giving details about their allegations of sexual assault and harassment. Tiffani Johnston, a former marketing and events coordinator for the team, revealed for the first time that Snyder touched her without her consent during a work dinner about 13 years ago. Snyder issued a statement denying her allegations.
The women and multiple members of Congress are demanding the NFL release its report to the public.
During Thursday’s roundtable discussion Krishnamoorthi noted that, “The NFL has released reports on Ray Rice, the Carolina Panthers, Deflategate, but nothing, nothing with regard to sexual harassment and Washington.”
Rep. Krishnamoorthi and Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), the chairwoman of the investigative arm of the House of Representatives, wrote this in a Friday statement:
“The Committee’s investigation and the NFL’s own legal documents raise serious doubts about this justification. At a Committee roundtable yesterday, victims of sexual harassment and misconduct at the WFT also dismissed this excuse as unfounded, and urged the NFL to release the investigative findings.”
Rep. Maloney has the power to subpoena any documents not provided, and the Committee gave the NFL until Feb. 14 to hand over those relevant documents.
Lisa Banks, an attorney representing several former employees, including all who testified before the Committee on Thursday, told Clarke that the NFL’s process has been revealed to be “a fraud,” and that further legal action is not out of the question.
“The NFL and Daniel Snyder joined forces at the beginning of this investigation to pursue a joint legal strategy and declared a common interest in the outcome of the investigation,” Banks said. “Roger Goodell lied to the hundreds of women and men who came forward and to the public at large about the intentions behind the investigation, its supposed independence, and the reasons for not releasing the findings. There must be consequences and we will be reviewing any and all legal options available to our clients.”
Krishnamoorthi told ESPN on Thursday that the NFL has not provided Wilkinson’s report, and that there are more than 650,000 emails and documents related to the investigation. Some of those e-mails, when made public to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal through unknown means, led to Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden’s retirement from the team. Gruden has written several racist, misogynistic, and homophobic e-mails to former Washington executive Bruce Allen.
In their letter to Goodell, Krishnamoorthi and Maloney also said this:
“These documents, which were gathered and created as part of the Wilkinson investigation, were stored on servers of a third-party vendor, where they remain. Now, after the NFL’s withdrawal from the agreement, each party claims that absent the other’s consent, they cannot access the documents, let alone release them to the Committee. By dissolving their common interest agreement and withholding consent, the parties may be attempting to create a legal limbo to stop the Committee from obtaining these key investigation documents.”
Neither the NFL nor Snyder had responded to requests for comments from ESPN and the Washington Post by Friday morning. Snyder issued his own statement on Thursday:
“I have acknowledged and apologized multiple times in the past for the misconduct which took place at the Team and the harm suffered by some of our valued employees I apologize again today for this conduct, and fully support the people who have been victimized and have come forward to tell their stories. In response to learning about incidents like these in 2020, the Team, on its own, undertook to revamp its policies, procedures and personnel. Real change has been made and employees of the Team have confirmed the vast improvement in Team culture over the past 18 months.
“While past conduct at the Team was unacceptable, the allegations leveled against me personally in today’s roundtable — many of which are well over 13 years old — are outright lies. I unequivocally deny having participated in any such conduct, at any time and with respect to any person. Tanya and I will not be distracted by those with a contrary agenda from continuing with the positive personnel and cultural changes that have been made at the Team over the past 18 months, and those that we continue to make both on and off the field.”
“We are grateful to the witnesses who again demonstrated courage by sharing their painful experiences,” NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said in a Thursday statement. “The NFL is reviewing and will consider Ms. Johnston’s allegations as we would any other new allegations regarding workplace misconduct at the Washington Commanders. We will determine any further action as appropriate. Today’s testimony underscores that all employees deserve a workplace that is free from harassment of any kind and where they feel safe reporting misconduct.”
What is done with those reports of misconduct is very much under attack, and rightly so.
