On Friday, Washington D.C’s NFL franchise owner, Daniel Snyder, addressed allegations of sexual harassment and verbal abuse of female employees by former team officials and said it “has no place in our franchise or society.”
The Redskins can’t catch a break. First, it was the never-ending call to change the team’s name, then the threat of minority stakeholders’ plan to sell stock and now sexual harassment allegations against people within the organization, Clutch Points reports. Snyder is trying hard to pacify the multiple controversies that have surfaced over the past month.
Earlier Friday, the NFL addressed the accusations after 15 former Redskin employees told the Washington Post they were sexually harassed. The NFL said the allegations were “serious, disturbing, and contrary to the NFL’s values,” adding that it will consider potential disciplinary action after reviewing the findings of an investigation conducted by an outside source.
The women’s accusations spanned from 2006-2019 against Larry Michael, the team’s former senior Vice President of content and its play-by-play announcer on its radio broadcasts; Alex Santos, the team’s former director of pro personnel; Richard Mann II, the team’s former assistant director of pro personnel; Dennis Greene, former president of business operations; and Mitch Greshman, former chief operating officer.
“The behavior described in yesterday’s Washington Post article has no place in our franchise or society,” Snyder said in a written statement. “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 Rivera earlier this year.”
On Thursday, the team said they hired D.C. 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.”
Ralph Northam, Virginia’s Democratic Governor, called on NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to take action over the situation.
“The allegations against the Washington football team’s management are serious and disturbing,” the governor told 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.”
Santos and Mann were fired by the Redskins last weekend, and Michael announced his retirement last week. There have been no allegations against Snyder, but there are speculations that Snyder was aware of the behavior.
The individuals accused of misconduct can also be subject to potential discipline under the NFL’s personal conduct policy.
