WFT Owner Snyder Alleges Extortion In Sex-Scandal Case

Daniel Snyder, embroiled in controversy, is pushing back.

Washington Football Team owner Snyder filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in southern Maryland, alleging that he is a victim of extortion - and that minority team owner Dwight Schar, wishing Snyder to sell the franchise, is behind it.

The court filing comes on the heels of a Washington Post story providing details of a $1.6 million settlement paid to a former wFT employee regarding a 2009 sexual misconduct allegation against Snyder in 2009.

In his lawsuit, Snyder alleges Schar knows there was no evidence of wrongdoing but still “threatened to reveal (information about the $1.6 million settlement) to discredit me and embarrass my family, but which the insurance carrier decided to settle.”

Snyder claims in his lawsuit that the Post article features quotes that “improperly give the misleading impression …that there was merit to the allegations of misconduct.''

The lawsuit alleges that the plaintiffs’ purpose is "to smear me in an effort to gain leverage in this business dispute.”

The New York Times recently reported that two investigations in 2009 (one by the team and another by an outside law firm) found the former employee’s claims to be unsubstantiated. Further, the Times wrote, the findings were that that the settlement was agreed upon not as an admission of guilt, but rather, to avoid any adverse publicity.

Earlier this year, the Washington Post alleged sexual misconduct without Snyder's organization that featured 40 women who claimed to have been harassed while employed by the Washington Football Team.