Jon Gruden Seeks the Truth in the Case Against the NFL
Jon Gruden expressed his desire for the truth to come out in the litigation against the NFL. The former coach of the Las Vegas Raiders is seeking answers about the alleged leak of emails to the media before his resignation in 2021.Gruden directly blames the NFL for the leak of the emails, which, according to him, led the league to pressure him to resign while the team had a 3-1 record.I am eager for the truth to come out and I want to make sure that what happened to me doesn’t happen to anyone else.
Jon Gruden
Gruden’s comments come after the Nevada Supreme Court ruled in his favor in the lawsuit, alleging that the NFL leaked damaging emails to the media before his resignation in October 2021. In a 5-2 decision, the judges did not determine whether the league leaked Gruden’s emails, which contained racist, sexist, and homophobic comments, to media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. However, they found the league’s decision to force Gruden to submit his complaint to closed-door arbitration overseen by Commissioner Roger Goodell, who is the target of Gruden’s civil lawsuit, to be “unjustifiable”. An NFL spokesperson announced that the league will request a new hearing before the Nevada Supreme Court. If not granted, the next step could be an appeal to the United States Supreme Court. Neither Gruden nor his lawyer, Adam Hosmer-Henner, have revealed whether they are willing to reach a settlement with the NFL. Gruden, for his part, did not want to comment on his future as a coach, although last week he expressed his desire to return to coaching. Hosmer-Henner expressed his satisfaction with the decision of the Nevada Supreme Court, which prevented Goodell from overseeing the arbitration process, given that he is a defendant in the lawsuit.The league’s actions interrupted the entire season. We were leading the division at the time, and it took me and the team by surprise.
Jon Gruden
The five Nevada Supreme Court justices ruled that, as a former employee, Gruden should not be subject to a provision of the NFL constitution that requires arbitration for these types of claims. Gruden’s leaked emails were sent in 2011, when he worked for ESPN as an analyst for “Monday Night Football”. Hosmer-Henner praised the decision, calling it a victory not only for Gruden, but for all employees facing “an unfair arbitration process by an employer.”The NFL’s legal position is absurd and will continue to be rejected by all courts. Obviously, the NFL should not be allowed to be the judge of claims against the NFL nor force people to abide by contracts that the NFL can unilaterally change at any time without notice.
Adam Hosmer-Henner
In his lawsuit, Gruden alleges that Goodell and the league pressured Raiders owner Mark Davis to fire the coach by leaking emails containing offensive comments that Gruden sent about the commissioner and others in the NFL. Gruden won in the trial court. The NFL appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court after a state judge in Las Vegas rejected the league’s requests to dismiss Gruden’s lawsuit or to order out-of-court settlement talks that could be overseen by Goodell. A year ago, a three-judge panel of the Nevada Supreme Court decided that the league could move Gruden’s civil case to arbitration that could be overseen by Goodell. Two judges said that Gruden knew when he signed a 10-year contract with the Raiders in 2018 that the NFL used arbitration to resolve disputes. The dissenting judge wrote that it would be “outrageous” for Goodell to arbitrate a dispute in which he is named as a defendant. Gruden’s lawyers were granted a hearing before the full panel of seven justices of the Nevada Supreme Court, who heard oral arguments last year. The four justices who first heard the case sided with Gruden against the NFL.This victory further vindicates Coach Gruden’s reputation and paves the way for full justice to be done quickly and for the NFL to be held accountable.
Adam Hosmer-Henner
