Ex-Raiders Coach Jon Gruden Sues NFL and Commissioner Alleging ‘Soviet-Style Character Assassination'
Former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, who resigned last month after racist, homophobic, and misogynistic comments surfaced, is suing the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell.
The lawsuit also alleges that Gruden was "forced" to resign.
NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy on Friday called Gruden's allegations "entirely meritless" and said it "will vigorously defend against these claims."
Former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden, who resigned last month after revelations that he had made racist, homophobic and misogynistic comments in emails, is suing the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell.
"Through a malicious and orchestrated campaign, the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell sought to destroy the career and reputation of Jon Gruden, the former head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders," said the lawsuit filed Thursday in Clark County District Court in Nevada.
The lawsuit alleges that the league and Goodell "forced" Gruden out of his job.
"In contrast to the formalities of the Washington Football Team investigation, Defendants' treatment of Gruden was a Soviet-style character assassination," the lawsuit alleges. "There was no warning and no process. Defendants held the emails for months until they were leaked to the national media in the middle of the Raiders' season in order to cause maximum damage to Gruden."
It alleges that the NFL uncovered hundreds of thousands of emails as part of a larger investigation into sexual harassment allegations against the Washington Football Team, but selectively leaked emails that implicate Gruden.
The lawsuit also claims the NFL initially only released one email, which contained a racist remark about NFL Players Association executive DeMaurice Smith's lips, and immediately began pressuring the Raiders to fire him over it.
When Raiders refused to remove him, the lawsuit alleges the NFL then released another round of emails to the New York Times. It alleges that the league "weaponized" them, ultimately causing the Raiders to pressure Gruden to step down.
"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," said Adam Hosmer-Henner, Gruden's attorney, in a statement Friday.
The lawsuit also claimed the leaks were an attempt to distract from the NFL's failure to properly handle the sexual harassment allegations against the Washington Football Team.
Nowhere in the lawsuit does Gruden deny sending the emails.
NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy on Friday called Gruden's allegations "entirely meritless" and said it "will vigorously defend against these claims."
Gruden's move to take legal action comes after several reports emerged about his emails with disparaging remarks. The messages were sent was an ESPN analyst, before he became coach of the Raiders.
In the emails, Gruden called Goodell a "f-----" and a "clueless anti football p----," according to The New York Times. Gruden also said that Goodell should not have pressured Jeff Fisher, then-coach of the Rams, to draft "queers," which is a reference to openly gay player Michael Sam who was chosen by the team in 2014.
There were also emails where Gruden shared inappropriate photos of Washington Football Team cheerleaders, the Times reported.
Gruden has since apologized for his past remarks that surfaced.
"I love the Raiders and do not want to be a distraction," he said upon his Oct. 11 resignation. "Thank you to all the players, coaches, staff, and fans of Raider Nation. I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt anyone."
前突袭者教练乔恩·格鲁登起诉 NFL 和专员指控“苏式人格攻击”
前拉斯维加斯突袭者队主教练乔恩·格鲁登（Jon Gruden）在种族主义、恐同和厌恶女性的言论浮出水面后于上个月辞职，他正在起诉 NFL 和专员罗杰·古德尔。
该诉讼还指控格鲁登“被迫”辞职。
美国国家橄榄球联盟发言人布莱恩麦卡锡周五称格鲁登的指控“毫无根据”，并表示“将大力捍卫这些指控”。
前拉斯维加斯突袭者队教练乔恩·格鲁登（Jon Gruden）在被揭露在电子邮件中发表种族主义、恐同和厌恶女性的言论后于上个月辞职，他正在起诉 NFL 和专员罗杰·古德尔。
周四在内华达州克拉克县地方法院提起的诉讼称：“通过恶意和精心策划的竞选活动，NFL 和专员罗杰·古德尔试图破坏拉斯维加斯突袭者队前主教练乔恩·格鲁登的职业生涯和声誉。”
诉讼称联盟和古德尔“强迫”格鲁登辞去工作。
诉讼称：“与华盛顿足球队调查的手续相反，被告对格鲁登的处理是一种苏联式的人格暗杀。” “没有任何警告，也没有任何程序。被告将电子邮件保留了数月，直到他们在突袭者赛季中期泄露给国家媒体，以便对格鲁登造成最大的伤害。”
它声称 NFL 发现了数十万封电子邮件，作为对华盛顿橄榄球队性骚扰指控进行更大规模调查的一部分，但有选择地泄露了涉及格鲁登的电子邮件。
该诉讼还声称 NFL 最初只发布了一封电子邮件，其中包含关于 NFL 球员协会执行官德莫里斯史密斯嘴唇的种族主义言论，并立即开始向突袭者施压，要求解雇他。
当突袭者队拒绝将他撤职时，该诉讼称 NFL 随后又向《纽约时报》发布了另一轮电子邮件。它声称联盟将他们“武器化”，最终导致突袭者迫使格鲁登下台。
“在 NFL 对华盛顿橄榄球队的调查中收集的 650,000 封电子邮件中，为什么 Gruden 的电子邮件是唯一公开的，或者为什么这些电子邮件在突袭者中间发布之前被保留了数月，没有任何解释或理由'赛季，”格鲁登的律师亚当霍斯默-亨纳在周五的一份声明中说。
该诉讼还声称，泄密是为了分散 NFL 未能妥善处理针对华盛顿足球队的性骚扰指控的注意力。
在诉讼中，格鲁登没有否认发送电子邮件。
美国国家橄榄球联盟发言人布莱恩麦卡锡周五称格鲁登的指控“毫无根据”，并表示“将大力捍卫这些指控”。
格鲁登采取法律行动的举动是在几篇关于他的电子邮件的贬低言论的报道之后出现的。发来的消息是一位ESPN分析师，在他成为攻略主教练之前。
据《纽约时报》报道，在电子邮件中，格鲁登称古德尔为“f-----”和“无知的反足球 p----”。格鲁登还表示，古德尔不应该向当时的公羊队教练杰夫费舍尔施压，让他选择“酷儿”，这是对 2014 年被球队选中的公开同性恋球员迈克尔萨姆的提及。
据“泰晤士报”报道，还有电子邮件中格鲁登分享了华盛顿足球队啦啦队队员的不当照片。
格鲁登此后为他过去浮出水面的言论道歉。
“我喜欢突袭者队，不想让人分心，”他在 10 月 11 日辞职时说。 “感谢 Raider Nation 的所有球员、教练、工作人员和粉丝。对不起，我从来没有打算伤害任何人。”
