Washington Commanders, owner Dan Snyder (pictured), the NFL and Roger Goodell have been sued by Washington D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine for "colluding to deceive" fans about the teams' alleged toxic workplace and sexual misconduct. File photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI |
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Nov. 10 (UPI) -- The Washington, D.C. attorney general filed a consumer protection lawsuit Thursday against the Washington Commanders football team, owner Dan Snyder and the NFL and its commissioner, Roger Goodell, accusing them of colluding to deceive and misled customers for financial gain.
Attorney General Karl Racine wrote in the suit that the football organization lied to district residents about allegations related to the Commanders' toxic culture and sexual harassment to protect profits.
NFL and Goodell colluded with Snyder and the team in misleading the public about the Commanders' toxic culture over many years, Racine maintained.
"The Commanders and the NFL secretly entered into an agreement about the investigation that the public didn't know about," Racine said, noting that evidence was gathered over a period of years.
That investigation into the Commanders' workplace culture was conducted by attorney Beth Wilkinson and initiated after reports of misconduct surfaced in 2020. The NFL announced a summary of the results last year, and Racine is asking in his suit that the court order release of the complete findings
Responding to the lawsuit, John Brownlee and Stuart Nash, attorneys for the team, said in a statement, "Over two years ago, Dan and Tanya Snyder acknowledged that an unacceptable workplace culture had existed within their organization for several years and they have apologized many times for allowing that to happen.
"We agree with AG Racine on one thing: The public needs to know the truth. Although the lawsuit repeats a lot of innuendo, half-truths and lies, we welcome this opportunity to defend the organization -- for the first time -- in a court of law and to establish, once and for all, what is fact and what is fiction."
Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, lawyers for more than former Washington Commanders employees, said the lawsuit reinforced beliefs that the team engaged in dishonest practices.
"Today's civil complaint ... is further evidence of what we've long known: that both the Commanders and the NFL have engaged in deception and lies designed to conceal the team's decades of sexual harassment and abuse, which has impacted not only the victims of that abuse, but also consumers in the District of Columbia," their statement said.
They added: "The filing of this complaint also marks an important step in validating the experiences of the brave women and men who came forward and in achieving, for the first time, a level of transparency into the scope of the misconduct."
Snyder, who acquired the team in 1999, and the Commanders have been investigated by the House Oversight Committee and the NFL for sexual harassment and financial misconduct.
Racine's suit alleges that "Faced with public outrage over detailed and widespread allegations of sexual misconduct and a persistently hostile work environment at the team, defendants made a series of public statements to convince district consumers that this dysfunctional and misogynistic conduct was limited and that they were fully cooperating with an independent investigation."
The league responded Thursday that "Following the completion of the [NFL] investigation, the NFL made public a summary of Ms. Wilkinson's findings and imposed a record-setting fine against the club and its ownership.
"We reject the legally unsound and factually baseless allegations made today by the D.C. attorney general against the NFL and commissioner Goodell and will vigorously defend against those claims."
Racine alleged in the suit that the the NFL and the Commanders had a secret agreement that "declared they had a joint interest in the [NFL] investigation and gave Snyder and the Commanders the ability to block the public release of any information he chose, including the investigation's ultimate findings."
The suit added: "Throughout the investigation, Snyder actively sought to interfere with it, including intimidating and suppressing witnesses. Then, the NFL chose to shield the results of the investigation from the public."
The attorney general is seeking financial penalties under the district's Consumer Protection Procedures Act. Each violation carries a maximum fine of $5,000, and that it "racks up pretty easy and exponentially," leading to potentially millions of dollars in penalties, Racine said.
