The attorneys normal of New York and California opened a joint investigation into allegations of office discrimination and pay inequities at the N.F.L. places of work in each states in response to a report in The New York Times in February 2022 on the therapy of ladies who work for the league.
The announcement by Letitia James of New York and Rob Bonta of California comes a 12 months after The Times interviewed greater than 30 present and former N.F.L. staff who described a stifling and demoralizing company tradition that drove some ladies to give up in frustration and which left many feeling brushed apart.
“No matter how powerful or influential, no institution is above the law, and we will ensure the N.F.L. is held accountable,” James mentioned in a press release.
Bonta added: “We have serious concerns about the N.F.L.’s role in creating an extremely hostile and detrimental work environment.”
The attorneys normal, who issued subpoenas to the N.F.L. for related info concerning its dealing with of the claims, mentioned the league had not taken enough steps to forestall discrimination and retaliation in the office. There isn’t any time restrict on the size of the investigation.
The league mentioned Thursday that it supposed to “fully cooperate with the attorneys general,” including in a press release that “these allegations are entirely inconsistent with the N.F.L.’s values and practices” and that it doesn’t “tolerate discrimination in any form.”
“Our policies are intended not only to comply with all applicable laws but to foster a workplace free from harassment, intimidation and discrimination,” the assertion mentioned.
The ladies’s allegations had prompted the attorneys normal from six states in April 2022 to encourage the N.F.L. to tackle these and different office issues or face a proper investigation. The attorneys normal, led by James, additionally requested victims and witnesses of discrimination at the N.F.L. to file complaints with their places of work.
The league mentioned it wrote to James and different attorneys normal on May 18, 2022, to define its insurance policies and practices, however didn’t obtain a response earlier than Thursday’s announcement.
About 1,100 individuals work for the N.F.L. at its places of work in New York, New Jersey and California. According to a league spokesman, 37 % are ladies and 30 % are individuals of coloration. The league has put extra effort into diversifying its hiring and has obligatory antiracism coaching and an nameless hotline — known as Protect the Shield — for workers’ issues.
But ladies who work there have mentioned issues persist. One, a high-ranking govt whose job was eradicated in March 2022 and left the league, filed an age and gender discrimination case in April towards N.F.L. Enterprises and N.F.L. Properties — two enterprise divisions of the league — in addition to a number of executives.
That case was introduced by Jennifer Love, who helped create NFL Network and rose over 19 years to turn out to be the first feminine vp at the N.F.L. Media Group. Love claimed the league’s human sources division by no means addressed her complaints about “pervasive sexism in the workplace and that the N.F.L. had a ‘boys club’ mentality.” She instructed human sources and her managers that a number of prime male executives had been overtly hostile to her and males with lesser expertise had been repeatedly promoted above her.
According to her criticism, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, one of these executives, Mark Quenzel, instructed Love in March 2022 that her job was being eradicated.
The Times reported that Quenzel, NFL Network’s senior vp and head of content material, was accused of pushing a feminine colleague at a rehearsal earlier than the Super Bowl in 2020 and confronted self-discipline from the league that included being compelled to take an anger administration course. A league spokesman, talking on behalf of Quenzel and the league final 12 months, denied the declare and insisted Quenzel didn’t push her.
Last 12 months, the N.F.L.’s office tradition got here underneath renewed scrutiny as a result of of a discrimination lawsuit filed by Brian Flores, the Afro Latino former coach of the Miami Dolphins. He claimed that the league flouted its guidelines requiring groups to interview a various vary of candidates for the head coach and normal supervisor positions.
Flores was fired by the Dolphins at the finish of the 2021 season and, with no head teaching affords, was employed as an assistant defensive coach by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He is now the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings.
A federal choose in New York dominated in March that Flores’s claims of discrimination towards the league weren’t topic to non-public arbitration, as the league had sought, opening a path for a public airing of his grievances.
Several groups have vociferously denied Flores’s claims, and the N.F.L. mentioned final 12 months that it was “deeply committed to ensuring equitable employment practices” and that “we will defend against these claims, which are without merit.”
A congressional committee additionally investigated the N.F.L.’s dealing with of claims of widespread sexual harassment in the entrance workplace of the Washington Commanders. That committee requested tens of hundreds of paperwork from the league and held a listening to in February 2022 through which former staff spoke about their experiences working for the workforce. Two ladies made new allegations of harassment that instantly implicated Daniel Snyder, the Commanders’ proprietor.
Snyder has denied the allegations, and the N.F.L. opened a second investigation into the newer claims.
Congress’s investigation sought info from the N.F.L.’s preliminary yearlong inquiry into the harassment reviews made towards the Commanders group, which concluded with the league in July 2021 fining the workforce $10 million however declining to make its full findings public. Snyder additionally agreed to cede day-to-day operations of the workforce to his spouse, Tanya, for a 12 months.
Last December, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform issued a 79-page report which concluded that Snyder, aided by N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell, suppressed proof that Snyder and workforce executives sexually harassed ladies who labored at the workforce over twenty years.
Last month, Snyder reached an settlement in precept to promote the workforce for $6 billion.
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