Two House Bills Introduced Coinciding with Washington Commanders Investigation
The House Committee on Oversight and Reform has been investigating the Washington Commanders toxic workplace and sexual harassment allegations for the past several months.
That investigation took a new turn Friday with the release of two bills introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney: Accountability for Workplace Misconduct Act and Professional Images Protection Act to combat workplace misconduct and misuse of professional images.
"The two bills introduced today would establish standards for employers to protect workers and encourage them to foster workplace cultures that aim to prevent -- rather than conceal -- workplace misconduct," Maloney said in a statement. "I strongly believe that those responsible for the culture of harassment and abuse at the Washington Commanders must be held accountable, and that as lawmakers, we must use our legislative powers to protect other employees from this serious misconduct."
The introduction of the bills comes just days after it was announced that Dan Snyder declined to testify at a congressional hearing next week.
"We ... are disappointed but not surprised that Dan Snyder does not have the courage to appear voluntarily, attorneys Lisa Banks and Debra Katz said in a statement.''
The NFL office recently addressed the request for commissioner Roger Goodell to appear.
“The NFL has cooperated extensively throughout the Committee’s lengthy investigation of the Washington Commanders, including by producing more than 460,000 pages of documents and responding to numerous questions in writing and in conversations with the Committee’s staff,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy said.
The Committee has accused Snyder and Goodell of obstructing the investigation.
“Since we launched our investigation in October, the Committee’s goal has been to uncover the truth about the culture of harassment and abuse at the Washington Commanders, to hold accountable those responsible, and to better protect workers across the country,” said Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform.
“The Committee has worked tirelessly to obtain critical information, including the findings of the internal investigation conducted by attorney Beth Wilkinson, only to be met with obstruction from the Commanders and the NFL at every turn. We must have transparency and accountability, which is why we are calling on Mr. Goodell and Mr. Snyder to answer the questions they have dodged for the last seven months. The hearing will explore how Congress can act to prevent employers from silencing victims of workplace misconduct and ensure that what happened at the Commanders organization does not happen again.”
“For seven months, the Committee has been stonewalled by NDAs and other tools to evade accountability,” added Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy. “Mr. Snyder and Mr. Goodell need to appear before the Committee to address these issues and answer our questions about the pervasive workplace misconduct at the Washington Commanders, and how the NFL addressed these issues.”
The NFL fined the Commanders $10 million last June after conducting its investigation, which was led by Wilkinson, into the franchise's workplace culture.
In October, Maloney and Krishnamoorthi sent a letter to Goodell requesting all documents related to the investigation conducted by Wilkinson, including her investigative findings.
In November, the Chairs released a statement calling on the NFL and the Commanders to release all individuals from non-disclosure agreements preventing them from speaking out about Snyder and the Commanders’ toxic work environment. The Chairs issued another statement in December following a report that detailed Snyder’s efforts to obstruct the internal investigation.
In February, the Committee held a roundtable with several former Commanders’ employees who detailed widespread sexual harassment, abuse, and other workplace misconduct by top executives, including Snyder, and explained that the NFL failed to address these issues.
At the roundtable, Tiffani Johnston detailed sexual advances made by Snyder at a team dinner. Following the Committee’s roundtable, the NFL opened a new investigation into Snyder’s conduct, as well as financial improprieties brought to light by the Committee’s investigation.
The NFL has yet to release the full report of its investigation.
