Getty Images
Connected closely to whether the lawyer employed by Snyder will conclude that Snyder has significant obligation for the workplace environment in the workplace he owns comes the question of whether and to what degree the investigation will include openness. If/when (when) the team and/or the league decide to offer little or absolutely nothing by way of information since the situation deals with “personnel matters,” there will be no way to check outdoors counsels operate in order to figure out whether a reasonable, even-handed investigation and analysis happened as it relates to Snyders accountability, responsibility, and function.
Washington, not the NFL, has employed outdoors counsel.
The inevitable idea appears smack dab in the middle of the leagues declaration in action to the Washington Post short article concerning 15 previous female staff members who claim that they were the victims of sexual harassment while working for the Washington franchise: “Washington has engaged outdoors counsel to perform a comprehensive investigation into these allegations. The club has actually promised that it will offer its full cooperation to the private investigator and we expect the club and all employees to do so. We will meet the attorneys upon the conclusion of their examination and take any action based on their findings.”
The table in this case currently is set for the outside counsel to find Snyder blameless, primarily because none of the 15 previous female staff members made allegations versus him. Yes, it may take some wise lawyering to insulate Snyder without making him appear like a nincompoop for not knowing what was occurring under his nose, but he has employed a wise legal representative.
Exceptionally, the league has chosen both to allow and to accept this approach. Did the Saints get to employ their own lawyer to investigate the bounty scandal? Did the Dolphins get to hire their own lawyer to examine the Richie Incognito/Jonathan Martin circumstance? Did the Patriots get to employ their own lawyer to investigate the Tom Brady air-pressure allegations? Even more relevant to the existing circumstance, did the Panthers get to employ their own attorney to investigate the claims of misconduct that ultimately required team creator Jerry Richardson to offer?
The inescapable clue appears smack dab in the middle of the leagues declaration in response to the Washington Post short article regarding 15 former female staff members who declare that they were the victims of sexual harassment while working for the Washington franchise: “Washington has engaged outside counsel to carry out an extensive examination into these claims. Outdoors counsel always has a responsibility to outdoors counsels customer. Outdoors counsel certainly will not make findings that consist of, for example, positioning significant blame on Snyder for developing, tolerating, motivating, and/or stopping working to correct a toxic culture that resulted in these accusations.
Washington, not the NFL, has actually worked with outside counsel. The possibilities of Snyder himself eventually being accountable for anything that occurred during his 21 years of owning the group are, at this point, very small.
Washington has engaged outdoors counsel, not the NFL. Outside counsel constantly has a responsibility to outside counsels client. Here, outdoors counsels client is Washington. More specifically, the customer is Snyder. Outside counsel certainly will not make findings that include, for instance, placing considerable blame on Snyder for developing, tolerating, encouraging, and/or failing to rectify a hazardous culture that resulted in these allegations.
The stage is set for Daniel Snyder to emerge from the greatest scandal of his two-plus decades years of ownership without facing serious scrutiny from the league workplace.
