NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has accepted the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Reform’s invitation to testify at a June 22 hearing as part of the investigation into the Commanders’ workplace culture, according to The Washington Post.
Goodell will testify remotely at the hearing. On Wednesday, Commanders owner Dan Snyder declined his invitation to testify at the same hearing.
Since Oct. 2021, the committee has been investigating Washington’s workplace culture, how the league handled misconduct reports, “the NFL’s role in setting and enforcing standards across the League, and legislative reforms needed to address these issues across the NFL and other workplaces,” according to the committee’s press release from earlier this month.
The investigation was brought on after the Post published an article in July 2020 detailing workplace sexual harassment experienced by 15 former employees within the franchise. Snyder also faces several accounts of misconduct, based on a video that includes partially naked cheerleaders and sexual misconduct from former employees, including Tiffani Johnston, who detailed her experience with Snyder during a hybrid roundtable involving several former employees.
The team owner denied the allegations in a statement.
Soon after the February roundtable, the committee released documents provided to them by the league, which included a Common Interest Agreement between the NFL and Washington and an engagement letter between lawyer Beth Wilkinson’s firm and the franchise. It revealed that not only did Washington agree to a written report being created of Wilkinson’s findings and recommendations, but also that the league would not be able to release the findings without the permission of Snyder, according to the documents. Here is a summary of what was found in the documents.
Come April, the committee wrote an explosive letter to the Federal Trade Commission, asserting that the Commanders and Snyder “may have engaged in a troubling, long-running, and potentially unlawful pattern of financial conduct that victimized thousands of team fans and the National Football League.”
The letter, a copy of which was sent to Sports Illustrated, included testimony from former Washington sales executive Jason Friedman. Some of the instances cited include alleged misappropriation of funds and underreported ticket revenue.
Here is more on the documents released by the committee, including details of the spreadsheet from Friedman, and how the former Washington sales executive said in his testimony that these financial practices began when things “started to get a little tougher for the team financially,” and noted they were encouraged by senior leadership, including Snyder.
Goodell said in March that Snyder “has not been involved in day-to-day operations.” Since July 2021, Snyder’s wife Tanya has taken over the operations of the team. The announcement came when the league partially released its findings from a workplace misconduct probe, levying a $10 million fine against the team.
