Last October, Roger Goodell said that he would not release a written report based on the investigation into the alleged toxic workplace culture within the Commanders franchise led by Beth Wilkinson. The NFL commissioner doubled down on his reasoning for that decision in his prepared remarks for the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Reform Wednesday, a hearing that team owner Dan Snyder declined to attend earlier this month.
Goodell argues that maintaining the anonymity of those who participated in the investigation was crucial to put together Wilkinson’s report, and therefore the league opted for a “comprehensive oral briefing” on the findings rather than any written report.
“Encouraging employees to come forward and share their experiences, which were frequently painful and emotional was essential to identifying both the organization’s failures and how to fix them. To encourage this participation, Ms. Wilkinson promised confidentiality to any current or former employee,” Goodell said in his prepared remarks, as shared by A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports.
