N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell stood by the league’s investigation into allegations of office misconduct on the Washington Commanders group at a congressional listening to on Wednesday, regardless of being challenged by Home members concerning the N.F.L.’s choice to not compel a written report of the findings or to return down extra harshly on the Commanders’ proprietor, Daniel Snyder.
Hours after the Home Committee on Oversight and Reform launched a memo that stated Snyder had interfered within the investigation, Goodell testified that he believed Snyder had been held accountable by the league’s evaluation of a $10 million fantastic on the group and having Snyder step away from the group’s day-to-day operations for the previous 12 months.
Whereas Goodell lauded the Commanders for remodeling their group’s tradition within the wake of the investigation, together with an overhaul of their human-resources practices, he additionally stated he had not seen one other office within the N.F.L. “anyplace close to” what former staff alleged they skilled with the Commanders over a interval that ran from 2006 by 2019.
Snyder didn’t seem at Wednesday’s listening to. Consultant Carolyn B. Maloney, Democrat of New York and the chairwoman of the committee, stated she would subpoena Snyder to look for a deposition subsequent week.
Goodell testified beneath oath for greater than two hours in entrance of the committee, which performed an eight-month inquiry into how the Commanders and the N.F.L. dealt with claims of rampant sexual harassment of the group’s feminine staff. In a memo launched on Wednesday morning, Maloney detailed the committee’s findings, together with that Snyder sought to intervene with the league’s investigation of his group by directing intimidation of witnesses and launching a “shadow investigation” that yielded a 100-page file on those that had shared claims of harassment towards the Commanders.
Goodell stated the league would discover unacceptable and “not allow” any motion that will discourage individuals with data of violations from coming ahead. He added that, in August 2020, because the N.F.L. took over the investigation which had begun beneath the Commanders’ oversight, the league advised the group to not conduct its personal investigation.
All through his testimony, Goodell reiterated his protection of the league’s method, even within the face of Congress members’ questions that burrowed into the N.F.L.’s dealing with of great claims of office violations, significantly his choice to maintain the investigation’s findings confidential.
Consultant Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland, pushed again on Goodell’s assertion {that a} written report couldn’t be ready and launched for this investigation out of concern for the confidentiality of among the individuals interviewed. Raskin referred to the N.F.L.’s 148-page report launched in 2014 concerning the Miami Dolphins’ bullying scandal by which names and figuring out data of taking part witnesses had been redacted, and requested the commissioner why the identical was not completed with the league’s report led by the lawyer Beth Wilkinson.
“Redaction doesn’t all the time work in my world,” Goodell stated.
Later, Consultant Jackie Speier, Democrat of California, learn from a September 2020 engagement letter by which the N.F.L. appeared to decide to Wilkinson producing a written report of the investigation’s findings. Goodell stated the league determined a month later that the report can be delivered solely orally, an method that has been criticized by most of the individuals interviewed for the league-run investigation.
Goodell didn’t exit of his approach to defend Snyder, who declined two requests to look at Wednesday’s listening to, citing a longstanding “Commanders-related enterprise battle.” The commissioner asserted that, because the group proprietor, Snyder is liable for his membership’s office atmosphere and stated he didn’t imagine Snyder contemporaneously advised the league workplace {that a} group worker had accused Snyder of sexually harassing and assaulting her in 2009 earlier than reaching a $1.6 million confidential settlement, as reported by the Washington Put up.
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At one level, when Consultant Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan, pressed Goodell on if he would take away Snyder as a group proprietor, he at first demurred however then replied when she repeated her query: “I don’t have the authority to take away him,” Goodell stated.
Whereas Goodell can’t unilaterally take away Snyder, he might advocate that the remainder of the league’s house owners achieve this. Such a measure would require a vote by not less than 24 of the league’s 32 member golf equipment, and it’s anticipated that Snyder would vigorously battle towards any such effort.
However two high-ranking officers at different groups stated that Snyder’s fellow house owners and different prime executives had grown impatient with answering a relentless barrage of unflattering information concerning the Commanders. The officers spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of the problems are nonetheless being investigated. One of many group officers stated the N.F.L. group house owners deliberate to debate the second league inquiry — which is trying into a brand new allegation of sexual harassment towards Snyder in addition to claims of monetary malfeasance by the group — as soon as it’s accomplished.
A number of Republican members of Congress disagreed with the committee’s choice to give attention to the office tradition of an N.F.L. group. Maloney replied {that a} driving objective in holding the listening to was to strengthen office protections for all staff and proposed two new items of laws, one which might prohibit using nondisclosure agreements, or NDAs, to hide office misconduct and require employers conducting investigations to share the end result with victims.
Goodell stated the N.F.L. would work with lawmakers on such laws, although the league has not instructed groups to not use such agreements, however somewhat has stated that NDAs can’t be used to forestall staff from taking part in a league investigation.
Ken Belson contributed reporting.
