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NFL contends Tiffani Johnston’s allegations against Daniel Snyder are “new”​

Posted by Mike Florio on February 3, 2022, 10:12 PM EST

In a roundtable hearing before Congress on Thursday, former Washington employee Tiffani Johnston accused Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder of unwelcome physical contact and an unwanted advance during and after a business dinner. Snyder called the allegations “outright lies.”

According to the NFL, Johnston’s allegations were not made as part of the 10-month investigation conducted by attorney Beth Wilkinson.

“The NFL is reviewing and will consider Ms. Johnston’s allegations as we would any other new allegations regarding workplace misconduct at the Washington Commanders,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a statement issued after Thursday’s session. “We will determine any further action as appropriate.”

It’s unclear why Johnston didn’t cooperate with the investigation, given her willingness to testify publicly today. Regardless, the appropriate further action is simple, and clear. If Wilkinson truly hasn’t already investigated Johnston’s claims, Wilkinson should be re-engaged to do so now. And the league should not hide Wilkinson’s ultimate determination as to whether Johnston or Snyder are telling the truth.

Former Washington employee Jason Friedman corroborated Johnston’s claims. He can be interviewed, too. Along with anyone else who may have any relevant information to share. That’s the right and proper way to proceed. And it’s also right and proper to announce the findings, not bury them.
 

Dispute between Daniel Snyder and former employee underscores need for Beth Wilkinson’s conclusions to be issued​

Posted by Mike Florio on February 3, 2022, 9:16 PM EST

On Thursday, multiple former employees of the Washington Commanders testified at a hybrid roundtable conducted by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform. One of the former employees, Tiffani Johnston, testified that team owner Daniel Snyder placed his hand on her leg at a company dinner, and that he left it there until she moved it. After the dinner, he allegedly tried to cajole her into his limo.

Following the session before the committee, Snyder issued a statement. Buried in the lengthy comment is this key excerpt: “[T]he allegations leveled against me personally in today’s roundtable — many of which are well over 13 years old — are outright lies. I unequivocally end having participated in any such conduct, at any time and with respect to any person.” (Free P.R. tip: If you’re going to claim the allegations are “outright lies,” there’s no reason to point out how old the “outright lies” are. If they’re “outright lies,” it doesn’t matter whether they were made 13 years, 13 days, or 13 minutes ago. A gratuitous reference to the age of the allegations only weakens the denial.)

The dispute between Johnston and Snyder underscores the importance of having attorney Beth Wilkinson, who investigated the situation for 10 months, prepare a written report that includes her conclusions as to this and other specific incidents that may be disputed by Snyder or others with the team. Who’s telling the truth? Wilkinson is in the unique position to make a decision, especially since she had the power to speak to other witnesses who may have corroborated Johnston or Snyder.

Wilkinson, for example, may have spoken to Jason Friedman, a former team V.P. of sales and customer service for more than two decades. Friedman submitted a letter to the Committee supporting Johnston’s version of the events.

“I witnessed Dan Snyder grab the arm of my coworker, Tiffani Johnston, and attempt to pull her into his limousine,” Friedman wrote. “I was shocked. Thankfully, Tiffani was able to quickly pull away.”

Wilkinson was retained to get to the bottom of these matters. After she did, the NFL instructed her not to reduce her report to writing. The Johnston claims illustrate that the report may have included a finding by the investigator that Snyder actually engaged in the behavior — and that he necessarily lied about it when denying it during the investigation. If that had come out, he may have been forced to sell the team.

That’s why it’s inexcusable that the NFL has refused to allow Wilkinson to put her report in writing. That’s why pressure must continue to be placed on the NFL to quit hiding the truth.

It nevertheless will continue to do so. I believe it’s happening because the NFL is hiding something huge. Huge enough to justify clumsy, disingenuous, and shameful efforts to conceal the facts that Wilkinson was paid to uncover.

UPDATE 10:17 p.m. ET: The league contends that Johnston did not participate in the Wilkinson investigation, and that Johnston’s allegations are “new.” Regardless, Wilkinson should investigate, and her report should be published.
 

Dan Snyder’s lawyer denies that Snyder or the team has obstructed the Congressional investigation​

Posted by Mike Florio on February 4, 2022, 8:12 PM EST

Friday’s letter from Congress to Commissioner Roger Goodell contains some interesting revelations regarding the true nature of Beth Wilkinson’s investigation. The letter also suggests that the league and/or the Washington Commanders are obstructing the Congressional probe into the situation.

On Friday afternoon, owner Dan Snyder’s lawyer issued a statement denying any efforts to obstruct Congress.

“[N]either Mr. Snyder nor the team has ever done anything to block the Committee from receiving any documents it has requested from the NFL that are not expressly protected by the attorney-client privilege or attorney work product,” attorney Jordan Siev said, via Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post.

There are those pesky terms again. Attorney-client privilege. Work product doctrine. License to keep any problematic emails or other documents or facts out of view, with no real vehicle for testing the allegation that the materials truly are protected. Unlike court proceedings, where a judge would eventually review the supposedly privileged documents and decide whether they are truly privileged, Congress simply has to take the NFL’s word for it, at least for now.

Siev also provided a supplemental response to Snyder’s denial of Thursday’s testimony from former Washington employee Tiffani Johnston, who accused Snyder of putting his hand on her thigh at a dinner, and of trying to cajole her into his limo after the event.

“The former team employee who spoke for the first time yesterday resigned through a thankful and cheery resignation note more than 13 years ago — citing her ‘5 and a half wonderful years working for the Washington [Commanders],'” Siev said. “We understand that she was approached by the Wilkinson law firm in 2020 as part of its investigation, but she refused to be interviewed. The unsworn allegations she made for the first time yesterday against Mr. Snyder are false, and have been categorically denied by Mr. Snyder.”

First, it’s asinine, offensive, and flat-out gross (in my opinion) to try to dispute the allegations of a person who spoke publicly (under oath or not) about her experiences with Mister Snyder by pointing to the fact that her resignation note didn’t say, for example, “Take this job and shove it — also I was sexually harassed by Mister Snyder.” Young female employees who are harassed at work by older male supervisors have to compartmentalize their experiences. They have to find a way to ignore what happened, and to keep going. Besides, Johnston may have otherwise enjoyed the times at work when she weren’t being, you know, sexually harassed. The fact that Mister Snyder’s hired gun would resort to regarding a perfunctory resignation note as a silver bullet suggests that Mister Snyder is VERY nervous about where this may go.

Second, as to the fact that Johnston “was approached by the Wilkinson law firm . . . but she refused to be investigated,” that’s no legitimate basis for doubting her version of the events. It’s now clear that Wilkinson was hired not to uncover hard truth but to minimize financial liabilities. Anything Johnston said to Wilkinson can and would have been used against her, if Johnston eventually had sued.

The fact that Siev felt compelled to add something more to Mister Snyder’s comment from Thursday regarding Johnston claims shows that Mister Snyder is concerned. Mister Snyder is worried. Mister Snyder is on the ropes.

If only the NFL would finally punch Mister Snyder through.
 

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Amid claims of lies and deceit by Roger Goodell, NFL says it will review and respond to new letter from Congress​

Posted by Mike Florio on February 4, 2022, 4:10 PM EST

The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform ratcheted up the pressure on the NFL on Friday, sending Commissioner Roger Goodell a letter that disclosed the existence of key documents regarding the investigation of the Washington Commanders workplace by attorney Beth Wilkinson. The NFL issued a public response on Friday afternoon.

“We have received the Committee’s letter,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said. “We will review it and respond to them. We will continue to cooperate, as we have throughout the investigation. To date, we have shared nearly 80,000 pages of documents and made many others available for the Committee to review, in addition to responding to questions from the Committee, both in writing and in the course of numerous discussions. The Committee has requested many documents which are clearly protected by the attorney-client privilege or are attorney-work product. The League, and not the team, has and will determine which information it is in a position to produce.”

The problem is that, as shown by the letter engaging Wilkinson’s firm and the “Common Interest Agreement” between the league and the team, these privileges will empower the NFL and the Commanders to keep the most revealing materials secret. Any documents containing anything that can arguably be characterized as seeking or communicating legal advice will be withheld under the attorney-client privilege. Any documents reflecting the mental impressions of Wilkinson or her team (ideas, strategies, findings, conclusions, recommendations, for example) will be withheld under the work-product doctrine.

These privileges arise because the entire investigation was set up not to get to the truth and expose it, but to get to the truth and bury it. Wilkinson has hired to ultimately protect the interests of the NFL and the Commanders, sifting through facts and evidence and eventually advising the league and team on what to do about it. Not from the perspective of doing what it right or proper for the former employees or the public interest, but from the perspective of protecting the golden goose and its many eggs.

Attorneys Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, who represent more than 40 former employees of the team (including all who testified on Thursday), used far more aggressive language in a statement issued to Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post.

They said that, at the same time Goodell pledged “a fair and impartial investigation to our clients, and encourag[ed] them to put their fears of retaliation aside to provide evidence to investigators, [he] had already sold them out.” They said that the league and the team “entered into a backroom deal . . . to pursue a ‘joint legal strategy’ regarding the Wilkinson investigation.”

“He was an active co-conspirator with Dan Snyder and is now carrying his water in stonewalling Congress’ efforts to ensure accountability by making the results of the Wilkinson report public,” the attorney said. “Our clients and the public at large have been lied to and deceived by Commissioner Goodell. Over one hundred [Commanders] employees . . . participated in this investigation in good faith, based on their belief the findings would be made public, and that the exposure of [the Commanders] deeply ingrained culture of sexual harassment would lead to changes to better protect women in the workplace. Had they been told the truth . . . witness would likely not have come forward.”

That last part makes a lot of sense. Think of it this way. If a lawyer approaches you and says, “I’ve been asked to investigate years of wrongdoing in the hopes of finding out what happened, ensuring it will never happen again, and making the appropriate persons accountable,” you’d react one way. If a lawyer approaches you and says, “I’ve been asked to look into a mess that was made in the hopes of limiting liability to you and others, so please tell me what you know so that I can help the company best position itself to defend against your claims,” you’d react a much different way.

Goodell acted like the Wilkinson investigation was the former. In reality, it was the latter. Arguably, this is the single worst example of chicanery in which the league office has engaged over the last 20 years — and there have been plenty of them.
 

106.7 The Fan got it right with its report regarding the Washington investigation​

Posted by Mike Florio on February 7, 2022, 11:30 AM EST

Last March, a D.C. radio station dropped a bomb regarding the then-ongoing Washington Commanders workplace investigation. Given recent developments, it’s a report worth revisiting — and amplifying.

On March 5, 2021, the station’s long-time morning show, The Sports Junkies, reported that they had received a portion of a written report prepared by attorney Beth Wilkinson. The report included a recommendation that the league “force the owner to divest his ownership of the team.”

The NFL quickly mobilized, calling the report “absolutely false” and contending that the league has “received no such report.” That part was accurate; as we have since learned, the league never received a written report, because the league didn’t want a written report. In the end, Commissioner Roger Goodell received an oral report from Wilkinson.

The recommendation of a forced sale arose not just from the allegations made against Daniel Snyder, but also from the way he handled the investigation.

“She was recommending this to Goodell mainly because of the coverup and lack of integrity throughout the internal investigations,” Jason Bishop of 106.7 The Fan said at the time. “Apparently [Snyder] was trying to persuade or instruct other employees not to talk to Wilkinson’s firm about what they were investigating. So there was the coverup right there. And once she reported back to Goodell that this was happening, that’s why she’s recommending he needs to go, because of the coverup.”

The station ultimately issued a correction, explaining that the report it received had not yet been sent to the league. Again, the report was never sent to the league. The NFL didn’t want anything in writing to be sent to 345 Park Avenue. Once the league had such a document, it would have become nearly impossible for the league to continue to conceal it.

Still, there’s no reason to dispute the accuracy or authenticity of the document that was obtained by 106.7 The Fan. Wilkinson clearly had prepared a written report (regardless of whether the league ultimately said “no thanks” when she offered to send it), and someone got their hands on a piece of it and sent it to the station.

It’s an important wrinkle to consider as the controversy continues to percolate in Congress. Nearly a year ago, 106.7 The Fan credibly reported that Wilkinson concluded based on her investigation that Snyder must go. Hopefully, someone with the authority, ability, and will to make that piece of information official and public will do so.
 

NFL accuses Washington Commanders of impeding Congressional probe​

Posted by Mike Florio on February 10, 2022, 7:23 PM EST

Daniel Snyder is pushing his luck.

The NFL went easy on the owner of the Washington Commanders in July, and the league has gone to great lengths to keep any evidence regarding years of workplace misconduct within his football operation hidden. The scheme was working.

Then, after someone leaked a handful of emails sent by Jon Gruden to former Commanders executive Bruce Allen, cries for transparency sparked a Congressional investigation. Which prompted a former team employee who hadn’t cooperated with the NFL’s investigation to tell her story to Congress last week. Which has triggered a new investigation of Snyder. And which has caused the NFL to accuse Snyder’s team of impeding the Congressional probe.

Via the Washington Post, the NFL has sent a letter to the committee conducting the investigation accusing the team of keeping documents from being produced. The situation traces to a third-party vendor who has custody of the documents generated by attorney Beth Wilkinson’s 10-month investigation.

“That vendor refused to provide the NFL or even [the law firm of] Wilkinson Stekloff with access to the documents unless the team consented because of its concern that it could be sued by the team or its owner,” the league’s attorneys wrote in a letter obtained by the Post. “The NFL promptly directed the team to provide its consent to the vendor, but the team repeatedly has refused to do so.”

Read that last sentence again. The NFL has issued a directive to the Washington Commanders. And the Washington Commanders have refused to comply with it. Repeatedly.

According to the letter from the league, the Commanders have “insisted that [they] will only authorize the vendor to release those documents to the team, so that the team’s counsel can review the documents for privilege first . . . before deciding unilaterally which documents it will provide to the NFL for production to the Committee.” The league told the committee that this approaches “unacceptable” because it “it would prevent the NFL from ensuring that it can produce all responsive, non-privileged documents to the committee and would delay our production decisions.”

This entire problem traces to the fact that Wilkinson was hired not to investigate the situation with the goal of making any findings publicly known but with the express objective of helping the team (and later the league) limit liability to current or former employees. The legal privileges that are preventing the production of documents flow directly from the wagon-circling nature of Wilkinson’s investigation.

Now, the privileges become part of the shell game aimed at continuing to hide information from Congress and, in turn, from the public. The problem for the team is that the NFL no longer wants to play games, and that the NFL is willing to accuse the team of playing games.

At some point, Snyder needs to worry less about Congress and more about the league. At some point, the desire to help Snyder (which frankly comes from a desire by other owners to avoid landing in a similar jackpot) will be outweighed by the desire to be done with him. The way things are going, it seems like it’s just a matter of time before the league tells him to get lost.
 

Daniel Snyder may finally be facing a real problem with his 31 partners​

Posted by Mike Florio on February 13, 2022, 2:35 PM EST


Rampant allegations of sexual harassment and other workplace misconduct in the Washington Commanders organization resulted in a 10-month investigation conduced by attorney Beth Wilkinson. The league imposed sanctions on July 1. But the league refused to make the findings public.

As we now know, the league didn’t even request a written report from Wilkinson. I’m told that, as reported at the time by 106.7 The Fan after the station obtained a copy of a document that was never actually submitted to the NFL, if Wilkinson had been asked to submit a report, the report would have recommended that owner Daniel Snyder be forced to sell the team.

The leak of the Jon Gruden emails dusted off what had been a curiosity and turned it into a full-blown controversy. Congress has since been pushing the team and the league to release information about the Wilkinson investigation. Most recently, the league and the team have fought over which documents will or won’t be given to Congress. But it’s the claims made by former Washington employee Tiffani Johnston that have changed everything.

The league will conduct a new investigation. There will be no reason to keep any information hidden, since Johnston already has told her story publicly. Washington tried to preemptively hire a pair of firms to handle the investigation, before the league intervened and made it clear that the team won’t be investigating itself.

The biggest pending question is whether the NFL will bring Wilkinson back for Phase Two of the probe. If that happens, it’s bad news for Snyder.
It may be bad news regardless. As one ownership-level source recently put it, the Johnston allegations could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for the league, prompting Snyder’s partners to take steps to push him out.

There are still several steps before that would become relevant. But that could be where it’s finally heading for Snyder, especially if Wilkinson is re-engaged to investigate Tiffani Johnston’s claims.
 

ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio said "for the first time ever, there is a sense among ownership that the time may have come" for Daniel Snyder to sell the Washington Commanders.​

Florio had an explosive Super Bowl Sunday report on momentum building among the league's owners against Snyder, who has long been under fire for fostering a culture of sexual harassment and secrecy in the organization. Snyder has repeatedly denied all sexual misconduct allegations against him. He recently orchestrated a charade in which a so-called independent investigative team would look into sexual harassment allegations made by former Washington cheerleader and marketing manager Tiffani Johnson. Meanwhile, a written report detailing the findings of a sprawling investigation into sexual impropriety in the Washington organization can't be made public without Snyder's permission. Enough NFL owners turning against the beleaguered Snyder could put enough pressure on him to finally sell the team he's mismanaged since the late-1990s.
SOURCE: Grant Paulsen on Twitter
Feb 13, 2022, 3:19 PM ET
 
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