Jon Gruden says the NFL forced him out through a “malicious and orchestrated campaign”
After resigning as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders last month, Jon Gruden is suing the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell. In a lawsuit filed in the state of Nevada, Gruden contends that the NFL and Goodell attempted to damage his career and character "through a malicious and orchestrated campaign."
Gruden stepped down as Raiders head coach on Oct. 11 after reports revealed that he dispatched emails using racist, misogynistic and homophobic rhetoric.
Former #Raiders HC Jon Gruden is suing the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell in Nevada district court, per @VinnyBonsignore. Lawsuit was officially filed on Thursday. reviewjournal.com/sports/raiders…
Jon Gruden's emails: Former Raiders coach sues NFL and Roger Goodell
The emails were unearthed as part of the league's investigation into office misconduct accusations levied against the Washington Football Team. Adam Hosmer-Henner, Gruden's attorney, said in a statement:
"There is no explanation or justification for why Gruden's emails were the only ones made public out of the 650,000 emails collected in the NFL's investigation of the Washington Football Team or for why the emails were held for months before being released in the middle of the Raiders' season.”
Lawyers Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, who are representing former personnel of the Washington Football Team, also inquired whether the league would make the emails public.
The former NFL head coach was placed under investigation by the league for an email he sent in 2011 in which he used a racial cliché to condemn NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith. Gruden confessed last month that he too used disrespectful language with respect to Roger Goodell.
In more emails, it leaked that he had "casually and frequently unleashed misogynistic and homophobic language" during his time as a color commentator on "Monday Night Football" for ESPN from 2010 to 2018. He left the position when he returned to coach the NFL with the Raiders.
Jon Gruden is suing the @NFL.
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Furthermore, Gruden criticized female referees and used more insults on the NFL commissioner. One email leaked included Gruden stating an unnamed former NFL safety, who knelt during the national anthem, should be terminated. The emails were sent to then-Washington team president Bruce Allen when Gruden was employed at ESPN. Allen worked with him when Gruden was the head coach of the Raiders, when they were in Oakland, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy reacted to Gruden's lawsuit with a statement:
“The allegations are entirely meritless and the NFL will vigorously defend against these claims.”