On Thursday, former Washington Commanders employees and Congressmen pressured Roger Goodell and the NFL to release a report on the history of sexual harassment at the team and its hostile work environment. They claimed that Dan Snyder, the owner of the team, has not been held responsible for their wrongdeeds.
Snyder denied a new allegation that one of the six former employees spoke in front of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
In 2020, the first complaints about the treatment of female employees surfaced. Snyder ordered an investigation into the workplace environment of the team, which was then taken over by NFL. The league fined Washington $10 million after the probe was conducted by Beth Wilkinson’s law firm. Snyder temporarily gave up the day-to-day operation of the team to Tanya.
However, the league didn’t release any details about the Wilkinson investigation’s findings. Former employees spoke Thursday to highlight the contrast between the NFL’s handling of an investigation into claims that Brady had deflated footballs.
“When the investigation into Tom Brady’s air pressure on football ends with a 200-plus page report, but the probe into 20 years of sexual harassment ends with nothing, it shows that the NFL has lost all respect for women, their employees, and the culture of this country,” stated Emily Applegate, a former employee of the team’s marketing department. She claimed she was subject to sexual harassment every day by her direct superior.
The team changed its name to the Washington Football Team in 2020 after George Floyd’s death and protests over systemic racism. Sponsors pressured the team to drop the “Redskins”, a moniker that had been criticized for years for being offensive to Native Americans. The Washington Football Team was the name of the franchise until Wednesday, , when Snyder changed it to the Commanders.
“Just yesterday, Mr. Snyder attempted to rebrand the Commanders team. It’s going to take much more than just a name change to fix this broken culture, said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y), the committee chairwoman.
Tiffani Johnston worked as a cheerleader, marketing manager and cheerleader for the team for eighteen years. On Thursday, she told the committee that Snyder had placed his hand on her thigh at a team dinner without her consent and that he then pushed her towards his limousine with his hand on his lower back. These allegations had never been made to investigators or the media.
Johnston stated, “He placed his hand on my middle thigh until he physically removed it.”
She described the incident in front of Snyder’s limousine as follows: “Dan Snyder took his hand off my back and stopped pushing towards his limo because his lawyer intervened and said, Dan, Dan, this was a bad idea.” While his attorney distracted me, I realized that Dan Snyder was holding onto my hand.
Maloney read from Jason Friedman’s letter, which corroborates Johnston’s account. Snyder refuted Johnston’s claims in a statement released publicly by the Commanders.
Snyder stated that while past conduct was unacceptable at the team, the accusations leveled against my personal in today’s roundtable — many which date back well over 13 years — are completely false. “I categorically deny that I participated in such conduct at any time or with respect to any individual.”
Brian McCarthy, a league spokesperson, stated that the NFL was reviewing the allegations and would consider them as any other allegations regarding misconduct at work at Washington Commanders. We will take any additional action that is necessary.”
At Thursday’s roundtable discussion, there were several allegations that women who worked for the team were subject to unwelcome touching and crude comments. Snyder fired cheerleaders because they were too attractive. The team’s video production department secretly edited a video of cheerleaders using footage taken from a calendar shoot at Snyder’s request.
It was not clear if Goodell would be compelled by Congress to release the report. Goodell has previously cited the privacy of former employees as a reason for not disclosing the investigation’s findings. McCarthy’s statement didn’t address the possibility that the report might be released, but he stated that former employees had “demonstrated courage” by sharing their difficult experiences.
The roundtable was a distraction from other urgent issues, according to Congressional Republicans.
“The witnesses have begged us to do something and nothing is going to occur as a consequence of this committee,” stated Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.). “That’s cruel for these people.”
Lisa Banks, an attorney representing former employees, spoke on Thursday. She also said that she expected Congress to pursue an end to the “cover-up by the NFL.” She also criticised Republicans for “a willingness to only stand with Dan Snyder.”
When asked about the scrutiny by Congress by David Rubenstein, philanthropist and David Rubenstein’s appearance at the Economic Club of Washington on October 31, Commanders President Jason Wright stated that the team’s workplace problems were not related to his arrival. Wright, the only Black president of the NFL’s Black teams, praised the diversity of his staff and said that Wright is the NFL’s only Black president.
Wright stated that the period of the rebranding and the time it has been in place coincided with a period when the organization experienced rapid, deep and unstoppable change.
