Opinion From Washington: Dan Snyder Tries To Use COVID To Stiff Bruce Allen
ASHBURN, Va. -- Just when you thought the war of words and actions between Dan Snyder and Bruce Allen couldn't get more 'interesting' - here we go again.
Now we've found out via Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic via a federal court filing that Washington Football Team owner Snyder tried to stiff former WFT boss Allen out of his contractual guarantees upon firing him in late December of 2019.
READ MORE: Dan Buying More
Allen apparently was forced to begin legal proceedings against Snyder to get the last portion of his pay, alleging Snyder in April of last year 'attempted to use the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to reduce the amount still owed to Mr. Allen.'
So what we have here is this. A billionaire owner who has more legal entanglements than his team has wins over the last few years, trying to use a global pandemic as an excuse to not pay an executive he should have fired much earlier.
Got it? Good.
READ MORE: Done Deal for Dan!
So apparently Allen had to retain legal counsel to fight the battle and he won. Congrats, Bruce. Now if only there were more wins and fewer football disasters while he was employed.
According to a document that was in the filing, Allen's contract extension was signed in April of 2017 (after the WFT fired Scott McCloughan) and continued until January 31, 2020.
Allen, obviously, was furious at the decision; this situation could have possibly lit the match that led to Allen's reported involvement in the libel suits and legal proceedings that Snyder has filed against media entities and that he is seeking discovery against Allen for.
Allen has been implicated in possibly assisting John Moag in the alleged defamation of Snyder. Moag represented Snyder's former friends and co-owners for their 40% share of the club recently.
Once again per the filing, the legal award went to Allen said.
“The more than 20-year personal friendship between Mr. Allen and Mr. Moag includes innumerable connections to the Team and professional football, and sports in general,” Allen’s filing said. “Rather (than) establishing Mr. Allen as complicit in some far-reaching, ‘campaign of defamation’ against Mr. Snyder, a far more rational and truthful explanation for their frequent communications is their friendship, and, in 2020, in reaction to the nationally publicized Washington Post and other articles and reports about the Team.”
READ MORE: Five Reasons Why NFL Could Go Easy on Dan Snyder
Also, as part of the filing, Allen wrote in an e-mail last August that he had nothing to do with planting negative stories because he doesn't talk to the media.
“Since his departure from the Team, Mr. Allen has not spoken to reporters or responded to any media inquiries, including about the Epstein Articles,” the court document relays. “He has had no communications whatsoever with defendants in the Indian Action or anyone connected to them. … He has never so much as speculated about Mr. Snyder having a link to Jeffrey Epstein or being involved in sex trafficking..."
And so even the court filings and denials of accusations are explosive - a war of words and actions no matter who actually wins.
