Daniel Snyder, Commanders, NFL sued over coverup of investigation
Nov 5, 2017; Seattle, WA, USA; Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder watches pregame warmups against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
Daniel Snyder, the Washington Commanders, the NFL and Roger Goodell have been sued by Washington D.C. attorney general Karl Racine, the A.G.’s office announced on Thursday. The suit is classified as a civil consumer protection lawsuit.
The basis of the suit revolves around the NFL agreeing to defend Snyder and not make the findings of last year’s Beth Wilkinson investigation into the team’s workplace public.
Racine’s office is suing the NFL, Commanders, Snyder and Goodell on the grounds that not releasing the findings was damaging to fans of the team.
The argument from the attorney general is that had the findings of the workplace investigation been made public, consumers/fans would have been able to make more informed decisions about their support of the team.
In a non-legal professional’s opinion, this suit seems highly meritless. The attorney general may be upset that the findings were covered up, but they don’t seem to have a legal basis for this suit.
They would need to prove that not releasing the findings was damaging to consumers. But there is a big issue that would be easy for the defendants to win the case on. Fans have known for two decades prior to last year’s lawsuit that Snyder is a bad guy. He refused to change the team’s name. He constantly meddled with the team. He put a bad product on the field. He nickel-and-dimed fans with costs. He had a bad stadium. All of that has been known for 20 years. Fans were chanting for him to sell the team well before the investigation.
Anyone who continued to support the Redskins/Commanders knew they were supporting a bad owner. There was public information reported in 2020 that he paid money to cover up a sexual misconduct claim. That information was still reported even without the findings of the investigation being made public. Fans knew that Snyder had been punished by the NFL for the misconduct.
What this suit seems to amount to is more public pressure applied to try and force Snyder to sell the team. Before long, those who hope Snyder will sell may get their wish.