Two House Democrats pressed NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to give Congress the findings about the investigation of the Washington soccer team and how the league handled the matter. according to the Washington Post.
This is the latest push for greater transparency on leaked emails that contained anti-LGBTQ, racist and misogynistic language.
Representative Carolyn B. Maloney (DN.Y.), Chair of the Oversight and Reform Committee, and Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) Sent a five-page letter to Goodell, asking her to submit “all documents and communications obtained in connection with the WFT investigation, its management, its owners, and any other matter related to or resulting from the WFT investigation ”prior to November 4.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy confirmed to the Mail who received the letter, echoing their concern that “all workplaces should be free from any form of harassment and discrimination.”
The lawmakers’ letter noted that during the league’s investigation, attorney Beth Wilkinson conducted more than 100 interviews and collected 650,000 emails, but the findings were not made public.
“We have serious concerns about what appears to be widespread abusive workplace conduct at the WFT and about the NFL’s handling of this matter,” the letter says.
Dan Snyder, co-owner of WFT, hired Wilkinson to research the franchise’s workplace culture after the Mail publishing a report that included 15 former team employees describing their experiences of sexual harassment and verbal abuse within the organization. Additionally, the WFT cheerleaders alleged that they were secretly videotaped while stripping, and later settled with the team.
The league then took over with Wilkinson reporting to Jeff Pash, the NFL general counsel and Goodell’s adviser, who is the latest under scrutiny after the 650,000 emails the league investigated that resulted in the former coach’s resignation. of the Raiders, Jon Gruden. the New York Times discovered Misogynistic, racist, and anti-LGBTQ emails sent by Gruden from 2010 to 2018, which were also collected and reviewed by the NFL while it investigated the Washington soccer team. The former coach reportedly sent the emails to then-team president Bruce Allen.
Pash reportedly had a close relationship with Allen, whose correspondence was being investigated.
“His emails suggest that when the Washington franchise was in crisis, Pash tended to offer an understanding shoulder rather than act as an impartial referee.” The times wrote.
This generated skepticism about the league’s impartiality in the investigation, which Maloney and Krishnamoorthi alluded to in the letter.
“Communications between league management and WFT leadership also raise questions about the league’s claimed fairness in these investigations,” they wrote, according to the Mail. “The NFL’s lack of transparency about the issues it recently uncovered raises questions about how seriously it has addressed intolerance, racism, sexism and homophobia, setting a troubling precedent for other workplaces.”
When the investigation concluded, the team was fined $ 10 million, but the findings were not made public. Wilkinson reportedly did not submit a written report, but shared his findings verbally.
In the wake of Gruden’s resignation, former employees told the Washington Post that attorneys representing the Washington soccer team offered a financial settlement in exchange for public silence on the alleged Sexual harassment in the workplace suffered by several former employees. Lisa Banks, the lead attorney for the former team employees, told them that in exchange for money, they would have to sign nondisclosure agreements and agree not to do any more press interviews or post on social media about their experiences.
As a result of Gruden’s resignation and The times’ Banks and Debra Katz, the attorneys representing 40 former WFT employees, released a statement urging the NFL to release the findings of its investigation into the team.
“It is truly outrageous that after the NFL’s 10-month investigation involving hundreds of witnesses and 650,000 documents relating to the long-standing culture of harassment and abuse on the Washington soccer team, the only person held accountable and losing his job is the coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, “the statement read. “Our customers and the general public deserve transparency and accountability. Otherwise, the NFL and Roger Goodell must explain why they seem determined to protect the Washington soccer team and owner Dan Snyder at all costs.”
More on the WFT and NFL email scandal:
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.