Gruden Wins: Nevada Court Rules in Favor in Lawsuit Against NFL Over Emails

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 alleged 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 the emails, but considered the NFL’s decision to force Gruden to submit his complaint to arbitration overseen by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who is the target of Gruden’s civil lawsuit, as “unjustifiable”. The court ruled that, as a former employee, Gruden should not be subject to a provision of the NFL Constitution that requires arbitration for such complaints.

By its own unambiguous language, the NFL Constitution no longer applies to Gruden. If the NFL Constitution bound former employees, the commissioner could essentially choose which disputes to arbitrate.

Nevada Supreme Court Justice

The seven judges reconsidered the findings after a smaller panel of the court split last year in a 2-1 decision to dismiss Gruden’s civil case. On July 1, 2024, the same three judges rejected, by the same 2-1 margin, a request from Gruden’s lawyers to reconsider.

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 their employer. This victory further vindicates Coach Gruden’s reputation and paves the way for him to receive justice quickly and for the NFL to be held accountable.

Adam Hosmer-Henner, Jon Gruden’s attorney

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 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 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. He said a jury could decide that was evidence of “specific intent,” or an act designed to cause a particular outcome. Gruden was head coach of the Raiders when the team moved in 2020 to Las Vegas from Oakland, California. He seeks monetary damages, alleging that the selective disclosure of the emails and their publication by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times ruined his career and sponsorship contracts. Gruden coached the Raiders in Oakland from 1998 to 2001, 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.