What did the District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine say about the Washington Commanders?
With a much-anticipated announcement made today by the DC Attorney General, it was revealed that the Washington Commanders are in the firing line
Washington DC Attorney General Karl Racine announced that his office would be suing the Washington Commanders, their owner Dan Snyder, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and the NFL for collusion to deceive an investigation into allegations of sexual assault.
In his prepared statement, AG Racine said, “After public reporting revealed that sexual misconduct, harassment, and misogyny ran rampant for decades at the team, the defendants promised DC residents that the league was going to fix this toxic culture, including by fully cooperating with an independent investigation.
That was all a lie.
Instead, the NFL turned a blind eye to Snyder’s extensive efforts to silence or intimidate witnesses, and the NFL and Commanders entered into a secret agreement that gave Snyder power to veto the release of any results.”
The District of Columbia’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act gives the Attorney General broad authority to hold individuals or a company accountable for misleading customers and Mr Racine has indicated that his office will make full use of this power.
“Because these actions largely took place outside the District, we do not have jurisdiction to specifically file suit regarding the workplace harassment and misconduct.
By suing today, we are using every enforcement tool at our disposal to hold the Commanders, Dan Snyder, the NFL, and Goodell accountable.”
Racine’s lawsuit seeks unspecified financial penalties for every incident in which the parties lied to DC residents. These penalties could potentially run into the millions of dollars.
NFL vice president of communications Brian McCarthy rejected all of AG Racine’s allegations as baseless.
“The independent investigation into workplace misconduct at the Washington Commanders was thoroughly and comprehensively conducted by Beth Wilkinson and her law firm. Following the completion of the investigation, the NFL made public a summary of Ms. Wilkinson’s findings and imposed a record-setting fine against the club and its ownership.
We reject the legally unsound and factually baseless allegations made today by the DC Attorney General against the NFL and Commissioner Goodell and will vigorously defend against those claims.”