NFL Fines Washington Football Team $10 Million

After an investigation into the Washington Football Team’s workplace culture, the National Football League has decided to fine the organization $10 million. The team had been under investigation since July of 2020.

The money will be taken from the team and used for culture-building efforts, according to a statement from the league. Owner Dan Snyder will also be stepping down from everyday operations. Senior executives will also undergo a set of training sessions on curbing bullying and promoting both diversity and inclusion.

“I feel great remorse for the people who had difficult, even traumatic, experiences while working here. I’m truly sorry for that. I can’t turn back the clock, but I promise that nobody who works here will ever have that kind of experience again, at least not as long as Tanya and I are the owners of this team,” Synder said in a released statement.

The lawyers who brought forth the case against the Washington Football Team claim that the NFL is still choosing to protect Snyder and the organization instead of former employees with the team, and that the fine is not nearly substantial enough to provide true justice.

“This is truly outrageous, and is a slap in the face to the hundreds of women and former employees who came forward in good faith and at great personal risk to report a culture of abuse at all levels of the Team, including by Snyder himself,” the lawyers said in a joint statement.

Others, such as Lisa Friel (who sits on the NFL’s counsel for investigations) claim that while much work remains to be done, hires such as Ron Rivera as head coach and Jason Wright as president are indicative of the organization’s changing culture.

The NFL concluded in their report that: “In some instances, senior executives engaged in inappropriate conduct themselves, including use of demeaning language and public embarrassment. This set the tone for the organization and led to key executives believing that disrespectful behavior and more serious misconduct was acceptable in the workplace.”

The lead investigator on the case, Beth Wilkinson, listed a set of 10 recommendations for Washington, which was predicated on institutional and structural changes to better curb unacceptable behaviors by employees, as well as promote both inclusivity and outlets for those who felt unwelcomed in the organization. Washington is expected to provide progress updates on achieving these 10 benchmarks.

“Over the past 18 months, Dan and Tanya have recognized the need for change and have undertaken important steps to make the workplace comfortable and dignified for all employees, and those changes, if sustained and built upon, should allow the club to achieve its goal of having a truly first-tier workplace,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement.

Article by David Metzger