Dan Snyder.Photo: Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post via Getty
DC Attorney General Karl Racine and his office are suing for allegedly “colluding to deceive District residents— the heart of the Commanders' fanbase — about an investigation into toxic workplace culture,” Racine said in a statement.
After stories broke about misconduct and harassment within the Commanders team, Snyder and the other defendants promised the public and their fans to investigate and fix the bad culture. According to the lawsuit, Racine doesn’t believe that happened.
“That was all a lie,” he said in a statement on Thursday. “Instead, the NFL turned a blind eye to Snyder’s extensive efforts to silence or intimidate witnesses, and the NFL and Commanders entered into a secret agreement that gave Snyder power to veto the release of any results,” Racine stated.
“With today’s lawsuit, we’re standing up forDC residents who were lied to and deceived,” he explained. “And we’re standing with the brave victims and employees of the team who told us the truth during our investigation and came forward about what they suffered and witnessed while working.”
In a statement to PEOPLE, Commanders counsel John Brownlee and Stuart Nash said that while they also want the truth, they deny some of the lawsuit’s claims.
Roger Goodell.Rich Graessle/PPI/Icon Sportswire via Getty
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“Over two years ago, Dan and Tanya Snyder acknowledged that an unacceptable workplace culture had existed within their organization for several years and they have apologized many times for allowing that to happen,” the statement read.
“We agree with AG Racine on one thing: the public needs to know the truth. Although the lawsuit repeats a lot of innuendo, half-truths and lies, we welcome this opportunity to defend the organization — for the first time — in a court of law and to establish, once and for all, what is fact and what is fiction.”
Meanwhile, for those who came forward with claims about the Commanders' workplace environment, the lawsuit is a welcome next step in a years-long process of holding the team accountable.
Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, lawyers representing former employees that sparked the original investigation into the team in 2020, said the lawsuit is proof of what they already knew.
“Both theCommanders and the NFL have engaged in deception and liesdesigned to conceal the team’s decades of sexual harassment and abuse, which has impacted not only the victims of that abuse, but also consumers in the District of Columbia,” they said in a statement, according to CNN.
RELATED VIDEO: Washington Commanders Rookie Brian Robinson Hospitalized After Being Shot Multiple Times in D.C.
Banks and Katz also said that the suit validates “the experiences of the brave women and men who came forward and in achieving, for the first time, a level of transparency into the scope of the misconduct.”
The lawsuit was announced just days after it was reported Dan and Tanya Snyer were exploring thepossibility of selling the team.
After that news broke, a source told PEOPLE that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, along with Jay-Z,are interested in buying the team.
source: people.com
