The attorneys for some former Washington Football Team employees rejected NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s reasoning for not making the investigation into the organization public, saying in a letter that their clients wanted anonymity but also a written report.
Goodell had said in a news conference at the league meetings Tuesday that they did not release a written report into the nearly year-long investigation of the organization and owner Dan Snyder because some who were interviewed wanted anonymity and therefore no public report.
In a two-page letter to Goodell, Lisa Banks and Debra Katz stated that their clients — they represent 40 women who made allegations of sexual harassment while working for Washington — wanted only protection. They wanted the findings released.
The letter stated, “While many who came forward feared retaliation by Dan Snyder, and therefore requested their names be kept confidential, they never envisioned that all their efforts and the efforts of Beth Wilkinson and her team would result in no written report of findings, and no real accountability for Dan Snyder or the WFT. Had they known this, they would not have participated.”
Beth Wilkinson provided a verbal report to the NFL of her findings. There were 150 people interviewed during the investigation. The NFL fined Washington $10 million for its toxic workplace culture; Snyder said at the time that he would step aside from day-to-day operations of the franchise in favor of his wife, Tanya.
Banks and Katz wrote that Goodell “misrepresented the wishes of our clients, and likely those of the other women and men who came forward, to justify your decision to bury what we know would be a damning report.”
They once more urged Goodell to release the findings. They said once that happens the public can determine whether the actions taken against the WFT were appropriate.
They wrote, “Your continued refusal to produce the findings of the investigation, ignoring the repeated pleas from those who put themselves at great risk to participate in this investigation, suggests strongly that it is not they who you are determined to protect.”
