The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
League will consider fine for Washington
Owner Dan Snyder says behavior ‘has no place in our franchise’
The NFL will seriously consider fining Washington’s team following accusations from 15 women of sexual harassment and verbal abuse against former club officials, and it will consider disciplinary measures against the individuals involved. However, the league and fellow team owners are not expected to take formal steps to attempt to compel owner Daniel Snyder to sell the franchise, according to multiple people familiar with the NFL’s inner workings.
Snyder said Friday that the alleged behavior by former team officials, detailed in a report Thursday by The Washington Post, “has no place in our franchise or society.” The NFL said the accusations are “serious, disturbing and contrary to the NFL’s values.” The league indicated it will consider disciplinary action after reviewing the findings of the outside investigation initiated Thursday by the team.
The NFL will monitor and potentially will have some participation in that review, according to one of the people with knowledge of the league’s planning and deliberations. The NFL is empowered to discipline a team, its owner or employees under its personal conduct policy. That person and another familiar with the NFL’s inner workings said a fine of the team is expected if the allegations are substantiated.
Both said that, based on the current available information, they would not expect the league or owners to try to challenge Snyder’s ownership, given that he was not accused of any inappropriate behavior in the report by The Post.
“But we’ll wait to see what the investigation finds,” one of those people said. “That will be the basis for any potential discipline.”
NFL bylaws give the league and team owners the right to attempt to force the sale of a team if an owner is deemed to have engaged in conduct detrimental to the welfare of the league. Those people familiar with the NFL’s inner workings said this case, barring any new findings of involvement by Snyder, is unlike a previous case involving former Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, who chose to sell the franchise after being accused of workplace misconduct.
Snyder issued a written statement Friday through the team in which he said: “The behavior described in yesterday’s Washington Post article has no place in our franchise or society. This story has strengthened my commitment to setting a new culture and standard for our team, a process that began with the hiring of Coach (Ron) Rivera earlier this year.”
The NFL’s response came earlier Friday after 15 former team employees told The Post that they were sexually harassed during their time with the team.
“These matters as reported are serious,
disturbing and contrary to the NFL’s values,” the league’s statement said. “Everyone in the NFL has the right to work in an environment free from any and all forms of harassment. Washington has engaged outside counsel to conduct a thorough investigation into these allegations . . . . We will meet with the attorneys upon the conclusion of their investigation and take any action based on the findings.”
The team said Thursday that it had hired attorney Beth Wilkinson and her firm, Wilkinson Walsh, “to conduct a thorough independent review of this entire matter and help the team set new employee standards for the future.”
“Beth Wilkinson and her firm are empowered to do a full, unbiased investigation and make any and all requisite recommendations,” Snyder said in his statement Friday. “Upon completion of her work, we will institute new policies and procedures and strengthen our human resources infrastructure to not only avoid these issues in the future but most importantly create a team culture that is respectful and inclusive of all.”
Ralph Northam, Virginia’s Democratic governor, called on NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to take action.
“The allegations against the Washington football team’s management are serious and disturbing,” Northam said in a statement provided to The Post. “I’m especially concerned that so much of this behavior is detailed to have occurred
across Virginia, where the team has offices and practice facilities. Commissioner Goodell needs to step in and get to the bottom of this, and quickly.”
The allegations spanned from 2006 to 2019 and were made against Larry Michael, the team’s former senior vice president of content and its play-by-play announcer on radio broadcasts, who abruptly retired Wednesday; Alex Santos, the former director of pro personnel, and Richard Mann, the former assistant director of pro personnel, both of whom were fired over the weekend; Dennis Greene, the former president of business operations; and Mitch Gershman, the former chief operating officer.
No women accused Snyder or former team president Bruce Allen of inappropriate behavior. But some expressed skepticism that Snyder and Allen were unaware of the behavior. The women blamed the team for having an understaffed human resources department and said they viewed an environment of verbal abuse by top executives as contributing to the team’s inappropriate treatment of employees.
UltraViolet, a women’s advocacy group, called on the NFL to remove Snyder. Shaunna Thomas, the group’s co-founder, said in a statement: “Daniel Snyder has enabled, encouraged and fostered a hostile workplace and toxic culture for women. He must go. If the NFL is serious about cleaning up its act, they will force Snyder to sell the team.”