During the Washington Commanders workplace harassment scandal, team owner Dan Snyder played the role of the out-of-office billionaire, horrified to discover that the team he’d owned since 1999 was said to be in such terrible trouble, while failing to maintain the veracity. doubted. of said problems.
In particular, he claimed to be “unaware” of the allegations until they were reported by The Washington Post and complained of being “too hands-off as an owner.” in a statement released shortly after the scandal broke out†
A group of former Washington employees has testified to Congress that this simply wasn’t the case, according to The Washington Post†
Snyder’s claims have also since been undermined by two allegations against him by former female employees, someone who claimed he touched her leg and tried to push her into his limousine and someone who claimed he groped her and tried to undress her in the back of a private plane†
Ex-Washington employees don’t think lack by Dan Snyder was the problem
The Post reports that Dave Pauken, who served as Washington’s Chief Operating Officer from 2001 to 2006, portrayed Snyder as the crux of “an abusive relationship” and flatly denied that Snyder was ever “absent.”
From the message:
“The culture was how Dan wanted the culture at the time,” said Pauken, who testified under oath after being subpoenaed by the panel. “…I think it all comes down to the owner, Dan Snyder, in the end.”
Asked about Snyder’s claim that he was simply too “finished,” Pauken previously described him as an owner who was imbued with every detail of the organization.
“My response was that that’s not a real explanation,” Pauken said. Asked to elaborate, he said: “I have no experience with him, nor any of my colleagues, where he was hands-off.”
Timpani reportedly said he regretted many of the things he did for Snyder while he was working for him, including not pushing back Snyder’s demand that female employees be fired for in-office relationships without punishing the men and hiding milk under the rug. casting of Mark Lerner, owner of the Washington Nationals. suite so it would go rancid.
He didn’t paint a pleasant picture when it came to Snyder’s character:
On more than one occasion, Pauken said, before kickoff, Snyder called him to the owner’s box overlooking FedEx Field, where the owner and a friend would watch the cheerleaders’ pregame drills.
“He would say to his friend, ‘Hey, do you think Dave is gay?’ Timothy testified. ‘And his friend would say, ‘Yeah, he must be gay.’ And Dan would say, ‘Yeah, he must be gay, as ugly as these cheerleaders are. Timpan, are you gay? You must be gay. How could you have a cheerleading squad who looked like this?’”
Other witnesses included Jason Friedman, a marketing executive who worked for the team for 24 years, who described a culture of fear in the workplace, and Brian Lafemina, a former chief operating officer and president of business operations, who said Snyder personally filed a complaint from a female employee of misconduct by play-by-play announcer Larry Michael because Michael was “a sweetheart”.
Michael would retire later in 2020 before allegations of misconduct were made public by the Post.
Washington cheerleader said the overhaul of Dan Snyder’s workplace included visits from PIs
Another common comment that Snyder liked to make amid the scandal is the idea that the team used to have problems but is working to fix them.
A former cheerleader said part of the process of fixing them was to send private investigators to ex-employees’ homes:
Abigail Dymond Welch, an eight-year veteran and former captain of the team’s cheerleading squad, told the committee about the events that took place in the months after the workplace allegations surfaced publicly and the team completed its front-office overhaul. Welch said a private investigator who said he was “working on behalf of the Washington Redskins” appeared at her Texas home in April and May 2021 to inquire about “interactions” with Bruce Allen and the investigation of sexual misconduct on the team.
Welch told the committee she knew of “maybe five” other former cheerleaders who had also been visited in their homes by private investigators seeking similar information.
The commanders pushed back the Post’s reporting in a statement, praising the progress it says it has made since the allegations of workplace misconduct were reported:
A spokesperson for Snyder offered the opportunity to respond to the specific allegations raised in the commission’s material and issued the following statement: his manner of attacking his character and the successful efforts of both Dan and Tanya Snyder , along with Jason Wright and Coach Ron Rivera, over the past two years to bring about a remarkable transformation in the organization. The Snyders will continue to focus on their industry-leading fight to bring greater respect and much-needed diversity and equality to the workplace in the face of constant and unwarranted attacks from the media and elsewhere.”
Where are the commanders’ charges at the moment?
As hands-off as Snyder was, one of the changes made after attorney Beth Wilkinson completed her investigation was that he gave up the team’s day-to-day activities while his wife was appointed co-CEO. The NFL also fined the team $10 million.
That wasn’t the end of the commander investigation, however, as the NFL has done has since opened a second investigation led by Mary Jo White into the allegations against Snyder†
There is also the matter of Congress, whose subpoena Snyder is currently evading† That investigation is still ongoing and could include: allegations of financial impropriety at the expense of the other NFL teams†