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Washington Commanders’ owner Daniel Snyder and members of his legal team conducted a “shadow investigation” and compiled a “dossier” aimed at former team employees, their lawyers and journalists. in an attempt to discredit his accusers and shift the blame after allegations of widespread misconduct on the team. workplace, according to the findings of the investigation conducted by the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
In addition, Snyder hired private investigators and lawyers to dig up emails and inappropriate evidence aimed at convincing the NFL and Beth Wilkinson, who was conducting a league-sponsored investigation into the sexual harassment of the organization, that the president of the Snyder team, Bruce Allen, was primarily responsible for any workplace issues.
Preliminary findings were detailed in a 29-page note from committee member Carolyn B. Maloney (DN.Y.), chair of the committee, to committee members ahead of Wednesday’s Capitol hearing on the workplace. commanders in which NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is expected to testify under oath. Snyder has declined to participate, opposing the date and terms.
“This memorandum describes evidence discovered by the Committee that shows that, although publicly, the NFL and the commanders promoted the hiring of a respected DC attorney. [Wilkinson] to conduct an internal investigation into Commanders’ toxic workplace in private, Commanders owner Daniel Snyder launched a shadow investigation in an apparent effort to discredit his accusers in the eyes of the NFL and offer an alternative target for the investigation, “Maloney wrote in his note.” United by an agreement to pursue a common interest and a joint legal strategy, the NFL and the commanders finally buried Mrs. Wilkinson’s findings.
Team representatives and a Snyder attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday morning. When asked to comment on the committee’s findings, an NFL spokesman referred to Goodell’s prepared comments for Wednesday’s hearing.
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“It required substantial courage for many to relive their painful experiences and tell their individual stories,” Goodell’s comments were said in part. “No one should experience jobs like the one described, especially not in the National Football League. I can tell all the victims unequivocally that their willingness to speak out has contributed to a substantial improvement in the workplace. .
“It’s clear to me that the workplace in Washington was unprofessional and unacceptable in many ways: bullying, widespread disrespect for peers, use of degrading language, public embarrassment, and bullying. for a long time commanders had a sadly deficient human resources function, especially with regard to information practices and record keeping.
The hearing comes a day after The Washington Post reported that an employee of the team accused Snyder of harassing and sexually assaulting her in April 2009, three months before the team agreed to pay the woman. $ 1.6 million as part of a confidential settlement, according to legal correspondence obtained. by The Post. Snyder called the woman’s claims “unfair” and said the team accepted an agreement only with the guidance of an insurance company.
“Mr Snyder’s lawyers used his shadow investigation to create a 100-slide dossier with emails, text messages, phone logs and social media posts from journalists, victims and witnesses who had made public accusations. credible harassment against commanders “. Maloney wrote in the 29-page note.
The dossier compiled by Snyder’s representatives, according to the committee’s investigation, included Post reporters detailing allegations of sexual harassment in the team’s workplace and lawyers Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, who represent more than 40 former team employees.
“Mr. Snyder’s legal team made several presentations in the NFL during Ms. Wilkinson’s investigation, including one involving a 100-page PowerPoint slide detailing private communications and social media activity of journalists and former employees. from the Washington Post, “Maloney said.
This 100-slide dossier was compiled from “information obtained through abusive litigation tactics and private investigators who targeted victims and witnesses of the commanders’ toxic work environment,” the committee found. Snyder’s goal, Maloney wrote, “seems to have been to develop an exculpatory narrative to present to the NFL that showed that he was not responsible for the toxic work environment of commanders, but that he was the victim of a smear campaign. coordinated “.
The NFL fined the team $ 10 million last July, according to the findings of Wilkinson’s investigation. The league also announced at the time that Snyder would hand over control of the day-to-day operations of the franchise to his wife Tanya, the team’s co-CEO, for an unspecified period. He has since represented the team at league meetings.
The committee’s investigation found that Snyder and his lawyers sent private investigators to the homes of former team cheerleaders looking for derogatory information about Allen and reviewed more than 400,000 emails on Allen’s idle computer account. in an effort to convince the NFL that Allen was “responsible for the team’s toxic work culture.”
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Snyder had fired Allen after a decade as team president in December 2019. Allen was not immediately available for comment.
Attorneys representing Snyder provided Wilkinson’s firm and the NFL with Allen’s emails, the committee found. A Snyder attorney “identified specific inappropriate emails from Bruce Allen to try to prove that Bruce Allen had created a toxic environment for the Washington Commanders,” Maloney’s note reads.
Several of those emails later appeared in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, including some in which Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden used racist, homophobic, and misogynistic language for seven years of correspondence with Allen. while Gruden worked for ESPN. Gruden resigned from the Raiders after the emails were revealed.
Tanya Snyder told other NFL franchise owners at a league meeting in New York in October that neither she nor her husband were responsible for the leaked emails, several people present at the meeting said at the time.
Gruden sued the NFL in November, accusing the league and Goodell of using leaked emails to “publicly sabotage Gruden’s career” and pressuring him to resign. The NFL has said it did not leak Gruden’s emails.
The league is now conducting a second investigation into Snyder which is being overseen by lawyer Mary Jo White. Goodell has pledged to disclose the findings, after he refused to publish Wilkinson’s findings and said Wilkinson only submitted an oral report to the league.
Maloney’s summary of the Congressional investigation noted that the NFL’s initial contract with Wilkinson required her to submit a written report and make recommendations, but that the league later “changed its plan.” Maloney’s note accuses the team and the NFL of obstructing the investigations of both Wilkinson and the Congressional panel.
The note also cites cases in which Snyder did not take any action against coaches and senior staff, but punished the employees for maintaining consensual relationships with male staff. David Pauken, the team’s former chief operating officer, told the committee that when Snyder learned that a coach had bumped into a public relations employee, Snyder refused to take action against the coach, and in instead, he ordered public relations staff to “stay away from the coach.”
Pauken also stated that Snyder fired employees who had consensual relationships with male team members or their staff. He cited the dismissal of two cheerleaders for relationships with former fit wing Chris Cooley.
“The employees were fired, the male employee was fired, there was no repercussion other than that he was restricted from additional sex with the cheerleaders,” Maloney’s summary states.
Another former director of operations for the team, Brian Lafemina, testified that when Snyder was informed of sexual harassment complaints against former announcer Larry Michael, he dismissed the allegations, saying Michael was “love.” that “it wouldn’t hurt anyone.” Michael resigned later.
Former team executive Jason Friedman told the committee that the team’s culture “glorified drinking and women.”
The committee previously detailed Friedman’s allegations of financial irregularities against the team in a letter to the Federal Trade Commission. The team denied the allegations.
At a Congressional roundtable in February, Tiffani Johnston, a former team cheerleader and marketing director, told committee members that Snyder harassed her at a team dinner, put her hand on the thigh and pushed her into her limousine. Snyder called the allegations made directly against him “outright lies.”
Former Washington Commanders teammate Tiffani Johnston testified Feb. 3 that team owner Dan Snyder harassed her at a team dinner. (Video: The Washington Post)