Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder and members of his legal team conducted a “shadow investigation” and compiled a “dossier” targeting former team members, their lawyers and journalists in a bid to defame his accusers and defer liability following complaints of widespread misconduct in the team. in the workplace, according to the findings of a survey conducted by the Parliamentary Committee on Oversight and Reform. In addition, Snyder hired private investigators and lawyers to uncover inappropriate emails and evidence to convince the NFL and Beth Wilkinson, who was investigating sexual harassment in the organization, under the auspices of the league, that the macro Snyder’s Bruce Allen was primarily responsible for any workplace issues. Preliminary findings were detailed in a 29-page note by Carolyn B. Maloney (DN.Y.), chairwoman of the committee, to fellow committee members ahead of Wednesday’s Capitol Hill hearing on the Commanders’s workplace. , where NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is expected to testify under oath. Snyder declined to comment, disagreeing with the date and conditions. “This memorandum describes evidence leaked by the Commission showing that, although public, the NFL and Governors mocked the hiring of a respected DC lawyer. [Wilkinson] “In order to conduct an internal investigation into the Commanders’ toxic workplace, privately, Commanders owner Daniel Snyder launched a shadowy investigation in an apparent attempt to discredit his accusers in the eyes of the NFL and suggest an alternative target for the investigation,” he wrote. Maloney. note. “Together with an agreement to pursue a common interest and a common legal strategy, the NFL and the Governors eventually buried Ms. Wilkinson’s findings.” Team representatives and Snyder’s lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday morning. Asked to comment on the commission’s findings, an NFL spokesman referred to Goodell’s prepared remarks for Wednesday’s hearing. Document reveals details of allegation of sexual assault in 2009 against Daniel Snyder “It took a lot of courage for many to relive their painful experiences and tell their individual stories,” Goodell said in part. “No one should have jobs like the one they described, especially not in the National Football League. I can say to every victim categorically that their willingness to show up has contributed to a substantially improved workplace. “It is clear to me that the workplace in Washington was unprofessional and unacceptable in many ways: bullying, widespread disrespect for colleagues, use of derogatory language, public embarrassment and harassment. “In addition, for an extended period of time, Governors have had a sadly deficient human resource function, especially in terms of reporting and record keeping practices.” The hearing comes a day after the Washington Post reported that a team official accused Snyder of sexually harassing and assaulting her in April 2009, three months before the group agreed to pay the woman $ 1.6 million as part of a confidential settlement. , according to legal correspondence obtained. from The Post. Snyder called the woman’s claims “unfounded” and said the group agreed to a settlement only with the guidance of an insurance company. Mr Snyder’s lawyers used their shadowy investigation to create a 100-slide file of emails, text messages, phone records and social media posts by journalists, victims and witnesses who had made credible public allegations of harassment against Dio ». wrote Maloney in the 29-page note. The Snyder’s dossier, according to the commission’s inquiry, included Post reporters reporting sexual harassment at the group’s workplace and lawyers Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, representing more than 40 former’s staff members. . Mr. Snyder’s legal team made several NFL presentations during Ms. Wilkinson’s investigation, including one that included a 100-page PowerPoint slide detailing the private communications and social media activities of journalists and former Washington employees. Post, “said Maloney. The 100-slide dossier was produced from “information obtained through abusive litigation and private investigators targeting victims and witnesses of the Governors’ toxic work environment,” the commission said. Snyder’s goal, Maloney wrote, “seems to have been to create an acquittal to present to the NFL, showing that he was not responsible for the Commanders’ toxic work environment, but instead was the victim of a concerted defamation campaign.” The NFL fined the team $ 10 million last July, based on the findings of a Wilkinson investigation. The league also announced at the time that Snyder would hand over control of the franchise’s day-to-day operations to his wife, Tanya, the group’s co-CEO, for an indefinite period of time. He has since represented the team in league matches. The commission’s investigation found that Snyder and his lawyers sent private investigators to the home of the group’s former cheerleader seeking defamatory information about Allen and smashed more than 400,000 emails into Allen’s inactive account in an attempt to convince the NFL that Allen was “responsible for the toxic work culture of the team”. What to expect when Roger Goodell testifies in the House of Commanders investigation Snyder had fired Allen after a decade as team president in December 2019. Allen was not immediately available for comment. The lawyers who represented Snyder provided Alkins’s emails to Wilkinson’s company and the NFL, the commission found. “Snyder’s lawyer” spotted Bruce Allen’s unsuitable emails in an attempt to prove that Bruce Allen had created a toxic environment in Washington Governors, “Malone’s note said. Several of these emails later appeared in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, including some in which then-Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden used racist, homophobic and half-hearted language for seven years in correspondence with Allen while Gruden worked on ESPN. Gruden resigned from the Raiders after the revelations of the emails. Tanya Snyder told fellow NFL franchise owners at a league meeting in New York in October that neither she nor her husband were responsible for the leaked emails, many of those present at the time said. Gruden sued the NFL in November, accusing the league and Goodell of using leaked emails to “publicly sabotage Gruden’s career” and force him to resign. The NFL said it did not leak Gruden’s emails. The league is now conducting a second investigation into Snyder, overseen by attorney Mary Jo White. Goodell vowed to make those findings public, after refusing to make Wilkinson’s findings public, saying that Wilkinson provided only one oral reference to the league. Maloney’s summary of the congressional inquiry noted that the NFL’s original contract with Wilkinson called for 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 committee. The memo also cites cases in which Snyder did not take action against coaches and senior staff, but punished female employees for consensual relations with male staff. David Pauken, the team’s former chief operating officer, told the committee that when Snyder learned that a coach had flattered a public relations officer, Snyder refused to take action against the coach and instead instructed the public official to away from the coach “. Pauken also testified that Snyder fired female employees who had consensual relations with male members of the group or its staff. He mentioned the dismissal of two cheerleaders for relationships with former boyfriend Chris Cooley. “Female employees were fired, male employees were fired – there were no consequences other than restricting extra sex with cheerleaders,” Maloney said in a statement. Another former COO of the team, Brian Lafemina, testified that when Snyder was informed of allegations of sexual harassment against former broadcaster Larry Michael, he denied the allegations, saying Michael was a “favorite” who “would not do any harm”. to nobody”. Michael later resigned. Former teammate Jason Friedman told the committee that the team’s culture “glorified drinking and feminine behavior”. The committee had previously set out Friedman’s allegations of financial misconduct against the group in a letter to the Federal Trade Commission. The group denied these allegations. At a roundtable in Congress in February, Tiffany Johnston, a former cheerleader and marketing director for the group, told committee members that Snyder harassed her at a group dinner by putting his hand on her thigh and pushing her toward her. his limousine. Snyder called the accusations leveled directly against him “direct lies.” Former Washington Groups executive Tiffany Johnston testified Feb. 3 that team owner Dan Snyder harassed her at a group dinner. (Video: The Washington Post)
