The National Football League (NFL) is taking over the internal investigation into the Washington Football Team’s alleged culture of sexual misconduct, according to a report by NFL Network.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell reportedly informed the team’s owner Daniel Snyder of the decision on August 31.
However, Snyder released a statement, saying he was the one who suggested that the NFL take over the investigation.
“Recently, The Washington Football Team launched an independent third-party investigation into allegations about our culture and incidents of harassment,” said Snyder in his statement.
“In conversations with commissioner Goodell, Tanya [Snyder] and I suggested that the NFL assume full oversight of the investigation so that the results are thorough, complete and trusted by the fans, the players, our employees and the public. I appreciate commissioner Goodell agreeing to our suggestion and the entire Washington Football Team remains committed to fully cooperating with all aspects of the investigation.”
The allegations were first broken earlier this summer by The Washington Post in a report on July 15 that was based on interviews with 15 female former employees, who say they were exposed to sexual harassment or inappropriate behaviors by the staff at Redskins Park in Ashburn, Virginia, while they were working for the club.
The incidents that allegedly took place between 2006 and 2019 include verbal abuse, as well as pressure for wearing revealing clothes and flirting with clients.
Two female journalists who covered the team also made similar accusations against former employees.
On August 26, The Post followed up with another story that brought up further allegations of workplace sexual harassment inside the organization.
Among the allegations is that a video was produced as a “special project for the owner” from the behind-the-scenes footage of a film shooting, where Washington cheerleaders accidentally exposed their breasts, in 2008.
Snyder denied the claim, saying that he did not request those videos and he never saw them.
In another allegation, Tiffany Bacon Scourby, a former Washington cheerleader, told The Post that Snyder asked her if she wanted to go to a hotel room with a friend of his so that they could “get to know each other better,” during a charity event in 2004.
The team had launched an internal investigation following the first report. Snyder had hired the DC-based law firm Wilkinson Walsh for the job.
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