WASHINGTON — The attorney general for the District of Columbia says his office is filing a civil consumer protection lawsuit against the Washington Commanders, owner Dan Snyder, the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Attorney General Karl Racine announced the civil complaint at a news conference Thursday, saying Snyder, Goodell, the team and league colluded to deceive D.C. residents about an investigation into the organization’s workplace culture.
“For years, the team and its owner have caused very real and very serious harm and then lied about it to dodge accountability,” Racine said, adding Goodell and the NFL misled the public. “They did all of this to hide the truth, protect their images and let the profits continue to roll.”
Racine said the team and league violated D.C. consumers’ rights based on what they knew about the organization’s workplace misconduct, alleging Snyder lied about his knowledge of the situation.
Four posters flanked Racine during his announcement, outlining some of the history of the team’s rebranding efforts that included references to D.C. and its flag and the history of the NFL’s investigation into the organization’s workplace culture.
“Dan Snyder assured fans that he would fully cooperate with the investigation and the results could be trusted,” one of the posters read. “That was a lie: He repeatedly attempted to interfere, and the fans could not trust results that were never made public. Because Snyder had a veto.”
The findings of Beth Wilkinson’s investigation were not released in July 2021 when the league fined the team $10 million for having a toxic workplace culture. The final poster read: “Fans’ outrage intensified when it became clear that Snyder lied to them: There would be no transparency and no reckoning. That impacted consumer spending decisions.”
Lawyers Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, who represent more than 40 former team employees, said the 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.”
The team is being investigated on several fronts, including by the attorneys general of D.C. and Virginia, Congress and the league. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy last week said former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White’s review on behalf of the league is ongoing and there is no timetable for when it will be completed.
“We will issue subpoenas,” Racine said. “We will seek testimony under oath.”
BILLS: QB Josh Allen missed his second straight practice because of a sprained throwing elbow, further clouding his chances of playing against the NFC North-leading Minnesota Vikings this weekend.
Allen was hurt in the final minutes of a 20-17 loss to the New York Jets last Sunday. He was spotted wearing a brace on his right arm after missing practice on Wednesday. Without revealing the severity of the injury, Coach Sean McDermott referred to the fifth-year starter as being day to day and would only say, “We’ll see,” when asked whether he can play on Sunday.
RAIDERS: Tight end Darren Waller and wide receiver Hunter Renfrow were placed on injured reserve, according to a person familiar with the moves.
Waller has missed the past three games with a hamstring injury, and Renfrow has been dealing with rib and hamstring injuries. Each will sit out at least the next four games.
49ERS: San Francisco cornerback Jason Verrett’s attempted return from a knee injury was derailed when he tore his Achilles tendon, the latest setback in a career full of significant injuries.
The Niners announced Thursday that Verrett got injured in practice the previous day and will be unable to play in 2022.
RAIDERS: Linebacker Blake Martinez has retired from the NFL at age 28, the team announced Thursday.
Martinez joined the team in October and made 20 tackles in four games, including two starts. He was coming off by far his most productive game with the Raiders, playing 91% of the defensive snaps and recording 11 tackles in Sunday’s loss to the Jaguars.
BROWNS: Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward will play Sunday at Miami after missing Cleveland’s past three games with a concussion sustained on Oct. 9.
Ward said Thursday he’s fully recovered from his third concussion, which happened when he banged his head on the turf while assisting on a tackle in the fourth quarter against the Chargers.
DIVERSITY STUDY: The NFL posted significant gains in hiring women for coaching, team front-office and league-headquarters positions, according to an annual diversity report.
The report card from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at Central Florida assigned an overall B grade for the league, with a B-plus for racial hiring and a B for gender hiring. The report examined a range of positions at the league office and within franchises using data for the 2022 season.
The gender results were an upgrade from last year’s C grade. Specifically, the numerical score of 81.4 represented an increase of 6.4 percentage points from 2021. That led to a slight gain in the overall score (83.2) despite a decline in the racial hiring score (85.0) due to updated census data.
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