As the NFL investigated his team for widespread misconduct in the workplace, Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder directed a “shadow investigation” to intervene and undermine his findings, a congressional committee found.
At Snyder’s behest, his legal team used private detectives to harass and intimidate witnesses, and created a 100-page file targeting victims, witnesses and journalists who shared “credible public allegations of harassment” against the team.
The House of Representatives’ oversight and reform committee released a 29-page note detailing the findings of its eight-month investigation into how commanders and the NFL dealt with allegations of unbridled sexual harassment of team members. The report came ahead of a hearing that expected League Commissioner Roger Goodell to appear and be questioned. Snyder rejected two requests for participation, citing a “long-running business conflict”.
Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, a New York Democrat who chairs the committee, said the investigation had uncovered evidence that Snyder had sought to discredit those who claimed the team and to create an “excuse story” that Snyder was not. guilty of the infringement allegedly committed from 2006 to 2019, for almost the entire period of his ownership.
To that end, Snyder and his lawyers also collected thousands of emails from Bruce Allen, who was CEO of Commanders from 2009 to 2019, in an attempt to accuse Allen of creating a toxic work environment and tried to influence the NFL investigation by direct access to the league and Beth Wilkinson, the lawyer who runs the league’s report, according to the note.
A Snyder spokesman said in a statement that the commission’s investigation had been “pre-determined from the start” and said the team had addressed these issues in the workplace “years ago”.
The NFL is aware of Snyder’s actions, the note said, “but has not taken meaningful steps to prevent them.” Wilkinson’s investigation prompted the league to fine Snyder $ 10 million and withdrew from the club’s day-to-day operations, but the NFL did not ask Wilkinson to prepare a written report, a decision that attracted the attention of both elected officials. and former team members involved in the investigation.
Goodell will tell the committee on Wednesday that the league had “compelling reasons” to limit Wilkinson’s report to an oral briefing, namely to keep its members confidential. “We were open and direct about the fact that the culture in the workplace of commanders was not only unprofessional, but also toxic for too long,” Goodell said in a prepared testimony. He added that there had been a “substantial transformation” of the team’s office and that it “did not look like the job described to this committee”.
The commission, which said it intends to investigate the mistakes of commanders and the NFL, as well as strengthen workplace protection for all employees, will present its findings at Wednesday’s hearing. The NFL launched a second investigation against commanders earlier this year in response to a new charge of sexual harassment that directly involved Snyder at a roundtable in Congress in February. Goodell said the findings of this investigation, led by attorney Mary Joe White, would be made public.
The committee’s note also cites additional examples of Snyder’s direct role in job creation, which Goodell acknowledged was marked by widespread disrespect and harassment. The team’s former chief operating officer told the commission that Snyder “refused to take action” against a coach who allegedly groped a public relations officer and fired workers who had consensual relationships with men, football operations officers, while men kept your job.
The Washington Post also reported that Wilkinson’s investigation had investigated a 2009 confidentiality agreement alleging that Snyder had touched an employee and asked her for sex.
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