Former Raiders president Dan Ventrelle says he was fired in retaliation
With serious accusations about the work place environment having been made and a pointed response from the team’s owner, the situation between the former president and the franchise has now becomes more serious than ever.
On Friday, the the NFL and its fans were shocked by the news of the sudden dismisal of the The Las Vegas Raiders president Dan Ventrelle. Now it seems there is more to the story than first thought.
Former Raiders president Dan Ventrelle says firing was retalitory
When the Raiders made a brief social media post on Friday explaining that Dan Ventrelle and the Las Vegas Raiders had parted company, heads turned. The post in question also went on to say at the time that there would be no further comment. That, however, was not the case, as later that day Ventrelle most definitely had some things to say. In a statement made to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Ventrelle disclosed that he believed he was fired in response to his reporting to the NFL that team owner Mark Davis was ignoring concerns about a hostile work environment. Ventrelle even added that he actually confronted Davis about his concerns, but when the franchise’s owner did not respond he took his issues to the NFL. Ventrelle’s statement reads as follows:
“Today, Mark Davis terminated my employment as President of the Las Vegas Raiders. I have committed almost 18 years of my life to the success of the Raiders as General Counsel and President. I take that responsibility very seriously, which is why multiple written complaints from employees that Mark created a hostile work environment and engaged in other potential misconduct caused me grave concern. When Mark was confronted about these issues, he was dismissive and did not demonstrate the warranted level of concern. Given this, I informed the NFL of these issues and of Mark’s unacceptable response. Soon thereafter, I was fired in retaliation for raising these concerns. I firmly stand by my decision to elevate these issues to protect the organization and its female employees. I remain committed to doing everything in my power to support the Raiders and the Las Vegas community I now call home. I have retained counsel and will have no further comment at this time.”
Where does the NFL stand on Dan Ventrelle?
According to the NFL’s spokesman Brian McCarthy, the league only “recently became aware of these allegations and take them very seriously. We will promptly look into the matter.” With that said, it now becomes a matter of waiting to see, for if indeed it is the case that the Raiders dismissed their president for reporting the truth of about a hostile work environment, expect the repercussions to be serious. Where Ventrelle himself is concerned, the former president was hired less than a year ago. As for owner Mark David, while he did not directly address the allegations made by Ventrelle he did in fact respond to Ventrelle with what can be considered sharp remarks.
“I’ve heard about (Ventrelle’s) statement, but I won’t comment on it,” Davis said. “The only thing I want made clear is that Dan Ventrelle was never president of the Raiders. He has always been the interim president. He was never named president.The interim was always a temporary designation to determine whether he would be the (full-time) president or not. I want that clear — he is not the president of the Las Vegas Raiders. Never was. I think there’s a misconception about that.”