Last week, all parties appeared to be in the clear regarding the sale of the Commanders being approved without issue. That may still ultimately be the case, but a new development could threaten the sale being ratified as scheduled. 
Mark Maske and Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post report that issues related to negotiations between outgoing owner Dan Snyder‘s legal representation and the NFL could “complicate the approval and closing” of the sale. Specifically, the matter of indemnification represents a possible roadblock late in the sales process, though it is unknown at this point whether it will be sufficient to delay the owners’ ratification vote.
The issues are believed to be at least partially related to Snyder’s alleged involvement in the events which led to Jon Gruden‘s resignation and subsequent lawsuit. A report from yesterday on the matter provided further details on the Raiders’ handling of their then-head coach, and the accusation that Snyder leaked the emails which resulted in Gruden’s departure during an investigation into the Commanders. Gruden has vowed to continue his ongoing lawsuit against the NFL, so it would come as little surprise if Snyder were to use the coming days to acquire further legal protection related to the suit.
Snyder is not thought to be seeking indemnification for himself or the Commanders regarding the ongoing investigation into himself and the franchise. However, his willingness to provide legal protection to the league’s other owners and, perhaps most importantly, commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL attorney Jeff Pash with respect to the ongoing Gruden situation is in question. The Post reports that Snyder is not prepared to sign an affidavit stating he did not leak the emails which cost Gruden his job, something he previously was willing to do. The team’s position denies that, noting that he has already testified he is not responsible for the leaks.
Another factor which could complicate matters is Snyder’s sister Michele, a part-owner of the Commanders. She is reportedly unwilling to indemnify the league and other owners as they pertain to the Gruden case, something which is likely to be one of the terms of the franchise’s sale agreement. All Commanders owners must fully agree to all provisions of the agreement, which is set to see Josh Harris purchase the team for $6.05 billion.
One of the Post’s sources describes this latest development as “signficant,” though some time does still remain to resolve the complications before the ratification vote, which is scheduled for July 20. It will be worth watching if this emerges as a last-minute hurdle to be cleared, or a wider issue threatening what has long been expected to be a unanimous approval of the sale.
So, if you hate a guy and find out bad things about this guy you hate….
You have a legal obligation to now help him hide his skeletons in his closet in perpetuity?
I’m not sure that is the main issue here. I think Snyder may have done it to divert from all the negative attention he was getting for the workplace culture. “If you think my behavior was bad, this guy’s truly horrendous…”
Essentially the league’s position (or any company’s position) would be if a member does something on their own to cause legal harm to others in the league, they cover that cost via indemnification. On that broadest view, it makes sense for the league to demand that—hey Dan, if you weren’t such a screwup, we wouldn’t be in this mess.
Now in regards to the role the rest of the league may/may not have had in the Gruden situation through their own actions, should be fair game. The league will argue though that it all stems from Snyder and therefore he should pay. And no one should cry over Snyder having to pay and pay and pay
I may have misunderstood your post, but it seems to me that Snyder is unwilling to allow the league or the other owners to be off the hook in whatever their role in the scandal was. Snyder is obviously the person we know him to be, but I don’t blame him for not wanting to help the league cover its own behind.
Of course, I could easily have misunderstood the article.
You’re not the only one getting a headache trying to understand all the legal mumbo gumbo in these proceedings. I feel quite confident that Snyder will have a blockbuster book on the market eventually, so he certainly won’t be revealing anything that would jeopardize the sales of that project.
The Snyder part I mostly get…he wants to try to sever any personal liability and leave it behind with the Commanders after the sale. Snyder is a s***bag. S***bags gonna s***bag.
The part I have never been able to get is why Gruden has a case.
If I find racist emails from Jon Gruden and I leak racist emails from Jon Gruden to the media…so what?
What law would I have broken?
So what if my “intent” was malicious? You can “maliciously” do legal things.
Unless there was some sort of confidentiality agreement that I haven’t seen reported broken, I don’t understand his whole “they had a DUTY to hide my skeletons” argument.
I don’t want to defend Gruden but we all do stupid things sometimes and he admitted what he did was stupid and apologized. If an individual maliciously posted damaging information about you on social media or gave it to the media and the result was you lost a six figure income, would you be okay with that? I suspect not.
Gruden’s complaint is that the league selectively leaked only his e-mails and not others that would cast other figures in a bad light. This choice of action is, per Gruden, in direct opposition to the league’s normal policy of not releasing any information at all (and actually choosing to hide it). I suppose that Gruden’s argument rests on proving that the NFL violated its own policy to hurt one of its own employees.
Basically, he’s saying that they just leaked his e-mails, and they did it to target him. The NFL so far has brought up the content of the e-mails primarily, but I don’t think that they’ve done anything but argue about the venue so far.
I didn’t follow this story that closely but as I understood it these e-mails were found while investigating Snyder and dated back to when Gruden was in broadcasting. In my opinion they should only have been leaked to individuals whose reputations may have been damaged by the content. Those individuals would then be in a position to confront Gruden and proceed with legal action of their own if they thought some other resolution was not possible. I think Goodell and the NFL would have a lot fewer headaches if they cut their army of lawyers in half.
Whether I would be OK with it or not does not change whether it is legal or not or violates a contract or not.
If not…then I guess I can cry myself to sleep over it but that’s about it.
What reason would Snyder have for leaking the Gruden e-mails? I suspect the NFL’s own lawyers were behind it, and Goodell knew all about what they had found.