The lawyers who represent more than 40 former Washington employees sent a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Wednesday to request that the league and its owners require a provision into the final sale of the Commanders that would prevent owner Dan Snyder from pursuing legal action against anyone who participated in investigations related to the team.
The letter was sent nearly a week after Snyder reached a tentative agreement to sell the franchise to an investment group led by Josh Harris for $6.05 billion. That deal isn’t finalized, but the league has received the term sheet of the agreement for an informal review.
Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, two attorneys representing the former Washington employees, wrote that they are concerned that Snyder could sue those who participated because of “Mr. Snyder’s well-earned reputation for being vindictive and litigious.”
They added that several of their clients were “harassed by private investigators,” an allegation that was also raised in the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s final report into the Commanders’ workplace misconduct.
“Although we are confident that any such litigation by Mr. Snyder would be meritless — as the women and men involved in the investigations did nothing more than accurately and honestly share their experiences working for the team — the emotional, financial and professional toll on these individuals to defend against even as a baseless lawsuit would be incalculable,” Banks and Katz wrote. “We hope and expected the NFL and its team owners will understand the risks people took to come forward and cooperate … in the many investigations conducted over the past few years.”
Asked for a response, a Commanders spokesperson said in a statement: “We are solely focused on continuing to improve our business, enabling us to invest in football and return a championship to the DMV.”
There have been at least six probes into Snyder and the team over the last few years. The NFL hit the Commanders with a $10 million fine in July 2021 after investigator Beth Wilkinson found the team had a “toxic” workplace, but that probe drew scrutiny when the league failed to release a written report.
Since then, probes have been taken up by Congress, the U.S. attorney general’s office in the Eastern District of Virginia, attorneys general in Virginia, Maryland and the District and the NFL over allegations of sexual and financial misconduct.
Several of those investigations have since concluded — notably, Congress’ probe wrapped up last December — but at least three remain ongoing: the NFL’s second probe (conducted by Mary Jo White), the federal investigation and the Virginia Attorney General. The team also faces a consumer protection lawsuit filed by the D.C. attorney general’s office.
Goodell said last month that White’s report into Snyder will be released to the public, even if the team is sold by the time the investigation has concluded. Goodell has said there is no timetable for White to conclude her report.
A source said last month that Snyder has refused to cooperate with White’s probe, though the investigator was reportedly expected to try to interview the embattled at least one more time before finishing her probe.
The NFL did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday regarding the attorneys’ letter.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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