Women’s group increases pressure on NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to make the findings of attorney Beth Wilkinson's investigation of the Washington Football Team and owner Daniel Snyder public.
Time’s Up, the Hollywood-formed initiative which began during the Me Too movement to combat workplace sexual harassment, released an open letter on March 5 in solidarity with a group of former Washington Football employees who claimed to experience or witness workplace harassment and demanded transparency and accountability from the league.
“When the investigation has been completed, the National Football League must release the report and take actions commensurate with the allegations in the report,” Time’s Up letter signed by athletes, activists, actors, and business leaders read.
“It is essential that the NFL hold those responsible for the mistreatment and harassment to which the employees were subjected, while protecting any privacy asked for by former employees,” the letter continued.
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The group’s action comes after a Feb. 25 open letter signed by seventeen named and three unnamed former Washington Football Team employees demanded transparency and accountability after they participated in the investigation led by Wilkinson's law firm.
“Each of us endured and/or witnessed a sexually hostile work environment, bullying, and other mistreatment carried out or condoned by owner Daniel Snyder and other executives of the WFT,” the letter read.
“Now that the investigation has been completed, we urge you to release, in its entirety, the report prepared by the Wilkinson law firm,” the letter continued.
“There must be accountability for the actions we believe are detailed in this report. But there cannot be accountability without transparency. And there cannot be healing for any of us without understanding the truth, which will provide confirmation that we are not alone, and that our allegations are supported by others.”
The group of former employees said they came forward to share their experiences to investigators at “great emotional cost” despite their fear of retaliation from Snyder and “his intimidation tactics.”
“Coming forward takes tremendous strength and courage, especially when the abuser is in a position of power,” Tina Tchen, president and CEO of Time’s Up Foundation, said in a statement. “Time’s Up is in solidarity with all those who came forward to detail decades of pervasive harassment and abuse at the Washington Football Team, and we join them in demanding accountability and justice.”
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Following an Aug. 2020 report by The Washington Post detailing a workplace rife with improper behavior at the team's headquarters in Ashburn, Goodell released a statement condemning "unprofessional, disturbing and abhorrent behavior" and committed to an independent investigation.
“When the investigation concludes, we will review the findings and take any appropriate action at that time,” Goodell said in a statement at the time.
In his annual pre-Super Bowl press conference in early February, Goodell said Wilkinson was "nearing the completion" of her investigation and said he had not met with Wilkinson or read any of her recommendations.
The commissioner said he would share the report's findings with the Washington Football Team and with "others" but did not state it would be made public.
“The important thing in the context of this is that the Washington football club has made a lot of changes already,” Goodell said in early February. “They asked for this type of review. They asked for the recommendations on this. Dan and Tanya [Snyder] have already begun making those changes for the football club. It’s good to see that. But I expect that Beth’s recommendations will be something that will be added to that.”
When asked whether he thought the report on the investigation should be made public, Washington head coach Ron Rivera said "that's beyond me right now."
“That’s not for me to say,” Rivera said during a Mar. 10 press conference. “The biggest thing I’m here to talk about right now is the draft, free agency, and our football team as far as where we are today and where we are going forward.”
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But for the advocates against workplace sexual harassment and the former employees of Washington Football, Goodell’s statements feel short of their calls for transparency and accountability.
“None of us will be silenced and we will continue to speak out until those who carried out and perpetuated the abuse at the WFT are held fully accountable,” the former employees wrote. “We are all watching to see what you do, and hope that you will take our concerns and our experiences to heart.”
Follow @BenKrimmel for the latest.
(This post has been updated to include head coach Ron Rivera's comments.)
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