Jon Gruden Wins Legal Battle Against the NFL in Nevada
The Nevada Supreme Court ruled in favor of former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden in his lawsuit against the NFL. Gruden alleges that the league leaked damaging emails to the media before his resignation in 2021. In a 5-2 decision, the judges did not determine whether the league leaked Gruden’s emails, but found the NFL’s decision to force his complaint to arbitration supervised by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who is the target of Gruden’s civil lawsuit, to be “unacceptable.” The court determined that, as a former employee, Gruden should not be subject to a provision in the NFL Constitution that requires arbitration for such complaints.The seven judges reconsidered the findings after a smaller court panel made a 2-1 decision last year to dismiss Gruden’s civil case. The same three judges rejected on July 1, 2024, by the same 2-1 margin, a request from Gruden’s lawyers to reconsider.Due to its own unequivocal language, the NFL Constitution no longer applies to Gruden. If the NFL Constitution were to bind former employees, the commissioner could essentially choose which disputes to arbitrate.
Nevada Supreme Court
The only remaining path for the NFL would be to appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. An NFL spokesperson declined to comment. Previously, the Nevada Supreme Court panel had decided that the league could move the civil case to an arbitration that could be overseen by Goodell. Two judges said that Gruden knew, when he signed a contract with the Raiders, that the NFL used arbitration to resolve disputes. The dissenting judge said it would be “outrageous” for Goodell to arbitrate a dispute in which he is a defendant. Gruden’s lawsuit alleges that Goodell and the league pressured the Raiders to fire Gruden by leaking emails containing racist, sexist, and anti-gay comments that Gruden sent, when he was an analyst at ESPN, about Goodell and others in the NFL. Gruden resigned from the Raiders in November 2021. The NFL appealed to Nevada’s high court after a state judge in Las Vegas in May 2022 rejected the league’s bids to dismiss Gruden’s lawsuit entirely or to order out-of-court talks that could be overseen by Goodell. The judge noted Gruden’s claim that the league intentionally leaked only his documents. She said a jury could decide that was evidence of “specific intent” or an act designed to cause a particular outcome. Gruden was the Raiders’ coach when the team moved in 2020 to Las Vegas from Oakland, California. He seeks monetary damages, alleging that the selective disclosure of emails and their publication ruined his career and sponsorship contracts. Gruden coached the Raiders in Oakland from 1998 to 2001 and then led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for seven years, winning a Super Bowl title in 2003. He spent several years as a television analyst for ESPN before being rehired by the Raiders in 2018.We are very pleased with the Nevada Supreme Court’s decision, not only for Coach Gruden but for all employees facing an unfair arbitration process by an employer. This victory further vindicates Coach Gruden’s reputation and paves the way for him to obtain full justice quickly and hold the NFL accountable.
Adam Hosmer-Henner, Jon Gruden’s attorney
