Daniel Snyder’s Command Performance: He Finally Went Away

Five former cheerleaders told The New York Times in 2018 that they were forced by the team to participate in a topless photo shoot and a night out with male sponsors during a 2013 trip to Costa Rica. In the summer of 2020, The Washington Post published two investigations in which a total of 40 women who worked for the team detailed sexual harassment and verbal abuse by male employees.

In addition to overseeing what a first N.F.L. investigation concluded was a “highly unprofessional” workplace, Snyder also was accused directly of misconduct. A woman who had been a marketing and events coordinator said at a congressional round table last year that Snyder put his hand on her thigh during a work dinner in 2005 or 2006 and that she resisted his attempts to lead her to his limousine. (Snyder said she was lying.) Additionally, The Washington Post reported that a team employee accused Snyder of sexually harassing and assaulting her in 2009 before reaching a $1.6 million confidential settlement.

Instead of trying to drum Snyder out, the N.F.L. showed him an escape hatch. It levied a $10 million fine against the team in 2021 but also allowed Snyder to borrow $450 million and buy out his limited partners, consolidating his control, and withheld the written report that detailed the findings of the first league-sponsored investigation into the Commanders’ workplace. But while the team repeatedly pointed to the steps it was taking to overhaul its workplace culture, Snyder kept fighting back, losing his grip on the franchise as he did.

In court filings, he accused his limited partners and his former longtime team president, Bruce Allen, of potentially playing a role in disparaging his reputation by spreading what he claimed was false information. The congressional inquiry, which examined the team’s and the league’s handling of the rampant claims of harassment, found that Snyder directed a “shadow investigation” to interfere with the N.F.L.’s first probe into his team. His tactics included using private investigators to harass and intimidate witnesses and creating a dossier of the people who had levied claims against the team.

Last February, the N.F.L. launched a second investigation into Snyder and the Commanders in response to new accusations of harassment and financial malfeasance uncovered through the congressional probe. N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell has committed to releasing the findings of this investigation publicly, regardless of whether Snyder is still a team owner when it concludes.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/14/sports/football/daniel-snyder-washington-commanders.html