Goodell pressured by Congress

Former Washington Commanders employees and members of Congress pressured the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell on Thursday to release a report about the team’s history of sexual harassment and its sexist, hostile workplace culture. They said the team and owner Dan Snyder have not been held accountable for their misdeeds.

One of the six former employees who spoke before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform also came forward with a new allegation that she was sexually harassed by Snyder himself, which Snyder denied.

Complaints about the team’s treatment of female employees first surfaced in 2020. Snyder commissioned an investigation into the team’s workplace environment that was taken over by the NFL. The probe by attorney Beth Wilkinson’s firm led the league to fine Washington $10 million, and Snyder temporarily ceded dayto-day operations of the team to his wife, Tanya.

But the league did not release any details of the investigation’s findings, and former employees who spoke Thursday noted the contrast to the way the NFL handled an investigation into allegations that Tom Brady deflated footballs.

“When the investigation of the air pressure of Tom Brady’s football concludes with a 200-plus-page report, but the investigation into two decades of sexual harassment concludes with nothing, it shows the NFL’S complete lack of respect towards women, their employees and for the culture of our country,” said Emily Applegate, who worked in the team’s marketing department and said she was sexually harassed daily by her direct superior.

In 2020, “Redskins” was dropped amid pressure from sponsors. On Wednesday, Snyder announced its new name, the Commanders.

“Just yesterday, Mr. Snyder tried to rebrand his team as the Commanders. With due respect, it’s going to take more than a name change to fix that broken culture,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., the committee chairwoman.