Commanders launch probe of sexual harassment claim against owner Dan Snyder
Independent investigation deals with allegations from more than a decade ago
The Washington Commanders have launched an independent investigation into allegations that owner Dan Snyder sexually harassed a team employee more than a decade ago.
Debra Wong Yang, a former U.S. attorney and California state judge, will lead the probe, the Commanders announced Wednesday.
The NFL fined the Commanders $10 million US and Snyder temporarily turned over day-to-day operation of the team to his wife, Tanya, after an investigation into allegations of rampant sexual harassment and workplace misconduct by former team executives.
Although many former team employees accused Snyder of presiding over a culture that was toxic to women, he had not been personally accused of sexual harassment until last week, when former employee Tiffani Johnston told Congress that Snyder groped her thigh during a team dinner and pushed her toward his limousine with his hand on her lower back.
Snyder denied the allegations, calling them "outright lies," and his attorney, Jordan Siev, said Johnston "refused to be interviewed" during the previous investigation of the team. The NFL said it would look into Johnston's claims.
Attorneys Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, who represent Johnston and more than 40 former team employees, called the investigation a "sham" and said Johnston would not participate. They repeated their call for the NFL to release the findings of the previous probe led by attorney Beth Wilkinson.
"The idea that Dan Snyder has hired a team to investigate his own actions is utterly absurd. This is a desperate public relations stunt, clearly designed to absolve him of wrongdoing," the attorneys said.
The team said it has hired consulting firm Pallas Global Group LLC to oversee the probe, and that the company has retained Yang to lead it. The findings of the investigation will be released to the public, the Commanders said.
"The team is committed to a thorough and independent investigation of Ms. Johnston's allegations, and pledges full cooperation with the investigation," the statement said.
Johnston worked for the team, then known as the Redskins, in the 2000s as a cheerleader and marketing manager. The team dropped its name, which had long been criticized as offensive to Native Americans, in 2020 amid protests of systemic racism that followed the killing of George Floyd. It was known as the Washington Football Team the past two seasons. Snyder announced the new team name last week.
